


Along Came A SP//dr

by KeroZombie



Series: Tales From The Peni-Verse [1]
Category: Spider-Man (Comicverse), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Blood, Canonical Character Death, Earth-14512, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eye Trauma, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I take a lot of inspiration from the comics but the plot is totally different, Lots of sad times at the end, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Canon Compliant, SP//dr is cute, Self-Sacrifice, Slight monster gore, Tragedy, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-02-23 14:44:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 53,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23613061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeroZombie/pseuds/KeroZombie
Summary: Peni Parker is a lonely child with a beautiful mind. With not even a single friend to her name she passes the time reading books and playing videogames, till one day a chance encounter introduces her to the SP//dr project. In the high-tech world of Oscorp it seems like she can finally live a life she'd only ever dreamed of. But not everything is as it seems...-A different take on Peni's origin story-
Relationships: Peni Parker & Peni Parker's Father (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)
Series: Tales From The Peni-Verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1699663
Comments: 16
Kudos: 36





	1. New Friends

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is the first story in a series of stories all set in Peni's universe. I blend together elements from her comic and her film interpretation. 
> 
> That said, I'd like you to imagine this series a bit like a comic. The stories in the series may be separate, but they link chronologically, each changing the universe in an important way. I'm starting right from the beginning, with her origin, set in 3142, three years before her appearance in Into The Spider-Verse.
> 
> Note - I've made her dad Richard Parker in this universe. I know some people imagine him as Peter, which is totally valid, but for various reasons I felt I had to go with Richard for my interpretation of her universe. Additionally, there are several small changes that diverge from her comics canon, where she's more of a child soldier archetype. Here she has more agency, as you'll see.
> 
> Updates will be as regular as possible, somewhere between 2 weeks to a month if the chapters are long. If they get irregular it doesn't mean I've abandoned the fic/series, as you can see from the previous stories I've completed. I'm in this for the long-haul!
> 
> Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!
> 
> **\- (Note added much later): if you're coming to this after reading 'Heart-Shaped Box', you'll find my style is a bit different here. I improved a lot between the two stories, and I intend to update this one before writing another long story so that the style feels more consistent between them all.**

We always ate 'Chocolate UFOs' first thing in the morning. A bowl each. You must've seen it around. It's the cereal with the big green alien on the front that says 'IT'S OUT OF THIS WORLD'. Both our bowls would be overflowing with little spaceships and I always let mine make the milk all brown and chocolatey before I ate any of it. Sometimes Dad would dip his spoon in and steal some of mine before I was finished, but he'd _always_ drink any chocolate milk I left behind after I'd had my fill. He'd just grab the bowl and down it in one go.

"Dad, that's gross!"

"Actually I think you'll find it's _chocolate_."

Then he'd go to work and Uncle Ben would come over and drive me to school. One day I asked,

"Why can't Dad drive me to school? You all work at the same place, right?"

"Your Dad has a very important job, Peni," Uncle Ben explained, "He has to start reeaaallly early to make sure everything gets done on time."

"Isn't your job important too?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Then why don't you start early?"

"We don't work _together_ , we just work for the same company, so your Aunt and I start a little later. Besides," he smiled, "if I went in early, who would drive you to school?"

My teacher was a lady with dark skin and bright white hair. She spoke softly and explained things slowly and never got angry when someone made a mistake. Her lessons were easy, and painfully slow. Our school had those old interactive whiteboards, not the cool VR ones, but the touchscreen ones where you have to poke it a billion times with your finger before it registers that you've done anything. I was so far ahead of the class that I could tell her what her slides would say before the machine even loaded them. But I liked her though. She listened to me. I couldn't talk to the other kids. We played games sometimes, but it's not the same. Sure we could skip rope, but if I tried to tell them about the life cycle of a moth or about the different types of clouds in the sky their eyes would just glaze over. We didn't like the same music, we didn't read the same books, we didn't like the same food, we didn't have anything in common, at all. There was me, and then there was them. I couldn't even imagine what they might be thinking at any given moment. It was like I was in a parallel universe. But she listened. She sat and listened to me and she never judged. She started giving me extra tough problems to do after school, and brought me books to read while she taught the rest of the class, and for a while school wasn't so bad. Her name was Mrs. Robertson. She was the first friend I ever had, though she retired before I really got to know her.

Sometime after my eighth birthday things got busy at Oscorp and I had to start catching the bus back from school, but I wasn't totally alone - Mr. Osborn's son, Harry, went with me. He was even smaller and scrawnier than I was, and the other kids made sure he knew it. He always said he wanted to walk me home to keep me safe, but it was obvious to us both that it was other way around. I didn't mind though. He was smart, weirdly smart, like me, and honestly, it felt good to protect him. I felt like a superhero.

I told him, "If they pick on you again Harry you just call me, 'kay? I'll teach 'em a lesson!"

So he did, and I punched two kids in the face and kicked another one in the shins. The principle called Oscorp, then they called Uncle Ben, and he wasn't happy.

"Peni, you _know_ that you can't just go and pick fights with people like that," he said as he drove me back home.

"They were bullying Harry."

"You could've told your teacher."

"I did!"

" _After_ you attacked them."

"They started it."

"Peni-"

"Dad would understand."

"Your dad loves you very much, Peni, but that doesn't mean he wants you to be a troublemaker. He has a very stressful job, you know? The last thing he needs is to worry about you getting into fights at school."

"…will he be at work till late again?"

"I don't know. Probably. He's working on something very special at the moment."

"What's so special about it?"

"I'm not allowed to tell you."

I sighed, "Top secret?"

"You guessed it."

"Will I ever get to find out what his job is?"

"I'm sure you will someday!"

Uncle Ben dropped me off at my apartment but he couldn't stay - he still had work to do at the lab. The apartment was, as usual, empty. Dad wouldn't be back till late. So I spent that evening like I did most evenings: playing video games and eating candy till I got so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open any more. I must've fallen asleep on the couch because when I woke up my face was buried in one of its cushions. I had a thick blanket on me too, totally different to the one on my bed.

"Peni, Peni…"

Someone was shaking my shoulder.

"Huh?"

It was Dad. I leapt off the couch, tossing the pile of candy wrappers on my skirt onto the floor.

"Dad! I can explain-"

He laughed and ruffled my hair, "No need. I'm sorry I got back so late last night. Did you sleep okay? I didn't wanna wake you up, so I let you stay on the couch, but-"

"Yeah I slept okay. I think."

"You think?"

"I can't believe I fell asleep in my uniform…"

"I've fallen asleep in my lab clothes more times than I can count. And…" he sniffed my shoulder, "…you smell fine, so I wouldn't worry."

"Dad!"

"Was school okay yesterday?"

I froze. No one had told him about what happened…?

"Oh uh, yeah, it was good," I lied, "I didn't learn anything, but I hung out with Harry."

"I thought they gave you stuff to read during lessons?" he said as he poured milk into two bowls of cereal.

"No, that was my old teacher. She left last year."

"Oh. Well maybe I should talk to them and explain."

"It's fine, you're busy, I understand."

He put the cereal on the breakfast table and gave me a serious look, "I've been neglecting you."

"What? No, Dad, it's-"

"I have. I've been so busy I haven't had time to give you the attention you deserve, sweetheart. I literally left you to fall asleep on the couch last night. The _couch_."

"It's okay, I can handle it, I'm not a little kid anymore."

"It's true, you're growing up so fast…"

"Exactly."

"I've been thinking about it for a while, actually."

"About what?"

"Quitting."

"Your job!?"

"Yes. Quitting my job and getting a more normal job, one that gives me time to be with you."

"But isn't your job super important?"

He smiled, "Not more important than you. Anyway, you better eat your breakfast, or you'll be late for school!"

"You wanna steal my chocolate milk that bad, huh?"

"My, my, what an accusation! I see you've inherited your mother's snarky attitude!"

"Well no wonder she was snarky if you kept on stealing her food!"

"What happened to innocent until proven guilty?" he grinned as he dipped his spoon into my bowl.

"Hey!"

"Just having one for the road, officer."

"Eat your own gosh darn cereal, you thief!"

My dad left for work as always, and I waited for Uncle Ben to come and pick me up. When I heard a knock at the door I just ran over and opened it right away. No one else ever visited. It could only be Uncle Ben.

Except it wasn't. Standing before me was a tall man in a dark grey suit. He had sharp eyes, and his smile was completely joyless as he said, "Peni Parker, I presume?"

I backed away, shocked into silence.

"Now, now, no need to be afraid. I'm no stranger. My name is Norman Osborn. Perhaps your father mentioned me?"

"M-Mister Osborn?"

He opened his arms wide, "Ah so you _have_ heard of me! Well then, why don't you step into my car? It's waiting outside."

"Where's Uncle Ben?"

"In the lab, along with your aunt, and your father. Today _I'm_ driving you to school."

"But-"

"You stood up for my boy Harry the other day, did you not?"

"I didn't mean to get him in trouble!"

Mr. Osborn laughed, "You misunderstand me. I'm _thanking_ you. Your confidence was admirable - more than I can say for Harry. Hell, you could teach him a thing or two."

His eyes were so intense, like the eagles you see in zoos or on TV; piercing, focused.

"Is Harry here too?" I asked.

"He's in the car. Come, there's much to talk about."

And so I locked my apartment door and followed Norman Osborn into his car, which was levitating at a small landing strip a few feet away. Harry was in the back, staring out of the window. He didn't look at me as I got in.

"I normally have a driver for this," Mr. Osborn commented as he started the ignition, "but like I said, I wanted to have a chat with you, Peni."

"Why me?"

"Do you know what your father does at work?"

"No…"

The car lifted off the ground effortlessly and flew down the street. It was much nicer than Uncle Ben's. The seats were soft and the whole thing had that 'brand new' smell.

"Well Peni, simply put, he's building me a robot. But not just any robot; a robot powered by the combination of two perfectly psychogenetically compatible minds. One of which is human, and the other… an irradiated insect. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Psychogenetic compatibility… you mean like, between brothers and sisters?"

"No, deeper. I'm talking about two minds which become a _single_ mind. Two beings so perfectly matched that when placed in the correct apparatus they become indistinguishable. _That_ is what you father is making for me."

"But why?"

"What do you mean, 'but why'?"

"Just, why would you want a machine like that? We already have super smart computers, and insects aren't smarter than humans so I don't see why you'd wanna smoosh an insect brain and a human brain together."

"It's not intelligence this world needs Peni, it's _power_ , the power to protect human civilization from those who would destroy it. With this machine, the days of giant monsters steamrolling New York will be no more. And once we've made one model, well we could make a whole line of them, and protect other cities. We could build an entire army-"

Suddenly Harry piped up, "Dad you were supposed to turn left there!"

"What!? No, I- Agh, now I've lost my train of thought, you idiot. There's more than one way to get to your school. I know where I'm going, so just be quiet and _listen_."

I didn't understand why Mr. Osborn was telling me all this; Uncle Ben had always insisted my dad's work was top secret. But I wasn't complaining!

"Anyway," he continued, still sounding frustrated, "what I was _trying_ to say was I'd like to invite you to take a tour around the lab this evening, after school. I think you're old enough to see what your father gets up to at work. But don't tell him - let's make it a surprise. I'm sure he'd be overjoyed to have a visit from you."

Before he'd even finished speaking I _knew_ I just _had_ to do it. I _had_ to go and see Dad in action, even if he was gonna quit, in fact _especially_ if he was gonna quit.

_Maybe if I can be there with him he won't have to quit at all! We can build robots together!_

"I'd love to Mr. Osborn! …if you're sure it's okay."

"I'm the _boss_ , Peni, don't worry - what I say, goes."

* * *

After getting lost a few more times, though Harry didn't tell him, Mr. Osborn eventually dropped us off at school just in time for class.

"Come on Harry, we better hurry or we'll be-"

But he was already halfway down the hall. I ran to catch up but he was out of sight before I got anywhere near him. Even during class he didn't so much as look over at me, and at recess he hung out right in the far corner of the playground, away from the all the other kids. I knew something was wrong, so I went over to where he was moping on a worn-out wooden bench and sat next to him.

"Are you annoyed at me?"

He stared down at the tarmac below.

"Come on, don't ignore me."

Silence.

"Harry, what is it? Just tell me!"

"Leave me alone."

"No."

He sighed, "Please."

"If I leave you alone the other kids will pick on you again."

"Don't remind me…"

"Wait, I didn't mean-"

"I get it, all right? I'm not as cool as you."

_What…?_

"Uh, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not cool," I replied.

"Cooler than me."

"The only people that like me here are the teachers."

"And my dad. _My_ dad."

"I'm sorry?"

"He spent all morning telling me how pathetic I am and how much of a pussy I was cos I needed a girl to protect me."

"For real?"

"Yes, for real."

"But that's so mean."

"Heh, yeah, sure is."

"I don't understand…"

"It's not complicated Peni, he just hates me."

"That can't be true though, Harry. You're his son, and you're smart! You're almost as smart as me!"

"Gee, thanks for the compliment."

"I'm serious!"

"Tell _him_ that."

"Maybe I should."

"No, please don't. That'll only make him more angry."

"Is he angry a lot?"

"Whenever I'm around, yeah."

"It's just weird. Like, he makes all the police robots and stuff so I just assumed he was a good guy, you know? But I guess-"

"He _is_ a good guy… just not to me."

"Maybe he's just very stressed at work."

"Are you serious?"

"I dunno! I'm just trying to think of why he'd be so mean to you."

"Not everyone's dad is like _yours_ , Peni. You have no idea how lucky you are."

"I don't _feel_ lucky."

"Well you _should_. You have like, the perfect life."

"I dunno… we're not crazy rich like you are."

"Being crazy rich doesn't buy you friends."

"That's cos you're weird. _We're_ weird. Weird kids don't have friends. Normal friends, anyway."

"Doesn't buy you a new dad either."

"I mean, I guess not, but-"

"See what I mean?"

"Alright, so money doesn't solve _everything_ , but still-"

"Save it."

"Harry-"

"Nope."

"Look," I said, wrapping my arm around him, "I know things are crappy right now, but you're not on your own. I don't care what your dad says-"

"Peni-"

"You're not a 'pussy'. You're a good person, and you should believe in yourself more. _I_ believe in you, and that's gotta count for something, right?"

He tried to hide the smile that flickered across his lips, "I suppose so."

"I _know_ so," I smiled back, "People can think whatever they want, but I _know_ you're cool. You're weird and smart, you don't fit in, and yeah you're kinda small, and quiet, and a bit of a pushover sometimes-"

"If this is meant to be a pep talk-"

"-but I think _all_ of that is cool. If you were some boring normie we wouldn't even be sitting here talking right now."

He thought about it for a moment.

"…you really mean all that?"

I gave him a big thumbs up, "Would I lie to you?"

* * *

All I could think about for the rest of the day was finally seeing Dad at work. Even better, he was building a giant robot! I was gonna be right there with him the whole time till he came home, then I'd get to be with him some more! I doodled robot designs in the margins of my textbook, thought of cool robot names, tried to imagine what insects Mr. Osborn was thinking of when he talked about psychogenetic compatibility. I was so lost in my own imagination that I didn't even notice the school bell ring. I nearly hit the ceiling when the teacher tapped my shoulder with his pencil.

"Peni? You can go now."

"Oh, yeah, of course, silly me, sorry, thank you, sorry, I can't believe I uh… see you tomorrow, Mr. Newton."

"I'll see you around, Peni," he said with a wry smile.

My heart was thumping in my chest as I walked through the school's huge automated metal doors. Would I get to hang out with Dad just this once, or would it become a regular thing? Was I finally gonna get to hear about all the top secret stuff that Uncle Ben couldn't tell me? And most importantly: how big was this robot he was building?

Then I saw the car. It was jet black, its paintwork perfectly shiny, completely untarnished. Mr. Osborn wasn't driving it this time. Instead, a middle-aged dude in a fancy suit was standing beside the rear doors. All the windows were tinted so you couldn't see inside. I was gonna wait to see if Harry would show up, maybe he stayed back later than I did, but then one of the car's windows rolled down and he waved at me.

"Peni! Over here!"

Once I was inside and buckled up the driver adjusted his cap and drove off into the throng of after-school traffic. Parents from all across the city filled every mag-lane on every street with their bulky, family-sized vehicles. No sooner had we lifted off than we were stuck in-between a bus and a hovervan.

"Aw man," I grumbled, "this is even worse than usual!"

"No need to worry, Miss Parker," the driver said, "soon we'll be entering a private road which goes directly to Oscorp Headquarters. It'll only take a few minutes."

"A _private_ road!?"

"To be used only at Mr. Osborn's discretion."

After a few minutes of drifting through the traffic we started to approach a crossroads with a bright red hatch built into one corner.

"Is that it?" I asked.

"Indeed."

"Even _I_ haven't been this way before," Harry commented.

Weaving through the cloud of hovering cars the driver gradually changed mag-lanes, getting closer and closer to ground level until we were right in front of the hatch. He pushed some buttons on the dashboard, then said, "This is Menken. I'm at the tunnel."

Within seconds the hatch doors slid open to reveal a shadowy tunnel lined with tiny red lights. He drove straight in. The tunnel stretched on so far that I couldn't see the end of it. Then the doors closed behind us just as quickly as they'd opened, leaving us in near-darkness. Beyond the car window the red lights sailed by in steady silence. It was peaceful. It was magical. To me, it was like we were flying through space. Just us and nothingness.

_Dad works in a place like this?_

I'd never actually been into the Oscorp building. I only knew the things Dad told me, which wasn't much. I knew they did science stuff and I knew Dad worked in a lab, but everything else I had to find out myself on the internet, or from news reports on the TV like 'Oscorp teams up with Mayor Fisk to improve public transport' and 'Oscorp builds new hospital in Queens'.

We didn't really like the TV, but it came with the apartment and we'd have to pay to get it removed. The trouble with TVs is they turn on whenever they feel like it. The little camera knows when you're in, so when you walk anywhere near the stupid thing it flashes whatever bright and crazy ad is playing at the time right in your face. The only other thing it turned on for was the news, especially when it was about Oscorp. Sometimes I felt like the TV knew more about my dad's work than I did! Anyway we mostly kept it muted. You don't even need TVs for video games anymore, not if you're playing in VR.

The driver spoke into the dashboard again, "Now approaching Oscorp Headquarters. Please ready the doors."

"Understood," replied the dashboard speakers, "I'm opening them now."

Suddenly a bright light appeared at the end of the tunnel, staring at us like an enormous eye. I unbuckled my seatbelt and peeked over the seat in front of me to get a better look.

"Whoa."

It got bigger and bigger, so intensely white that I had to squint as it flooded the windows, flooded the entire car with heat and light. I covered my eyes with my hands. We began to slow down. Up a ramp, now turning left, even brighter than before.

Then the driver stopped the car.

"Hm, we're actually _ahead_ of schedule."

"Is this it? Why's it so bright in here?"

The door beside me swung open. Cool air rushed over my bare legs.

"Nice to see you Peni. Come, your father is waiting."

Mr. Osborn's voice. I uncovered my eyes. He was holding a hand out to me. I took it and stepped out of the car. He had a very firm grip.

"Harry," he said, "you too. Come on."

As my eyes adjusted I realized we were in an interior parking lot. The whole room was lined with vehicles of various sizes. They were all boring colors: grey, black, sometimes white. One was blue, but not a fun shade of blue.

Mr. Osborn motioned for us to follow him, "The lab's this way."

He led us down a hallway lined on all sides with concrete till we reached a wide elevator lined with black metal. We got in. The electronic sign at the top of the door read 'B01'. On the wall was a microphone.

"Otto," Mr. Osborn said, "take us to B03."

A robotic voice replied, "Certainly, Mr. Osborn."

"Does Otto work with my dad too?"

Mr. Osborn smirked, "In a sense, yes."

The door closed with a quiet _click_. Then the elevator sank down, and my stomach flew up. I pressed myself into the corner as a low hum filled the air. We were picking up speed, I could feel it - and I didn't like it. I stared at the sign. Somehow it was still on B01.

_Come on B02, hurry up already._

We hit B02 not a moment too soon, but of course we didn't stop there. I had no idea how far down B03 was. I couldn't be sure the floors were evenly spaced. Luckily for me it wasn't far away, and after a few seconds we'd arrived at B03. Not so lucky for me, the elevator stopped _immediately_ upon arrival, dropping my stomach back into position all at once.

I stumbled out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened.

"Can we take the stairs next time?"

"Yeah Dad," Harry agreed, "what's up with that elevator?"

"You're free to take the stairs on your way out… if you don't mind walking up a hundred flights of them."

"A _hundred!?_ " we both yelled.

"We don't do _small_ here. This place, this _company_ doesn't just make knick-knacks or mere _machines_ …" he said, gesturing grandly as we approached an enormous green door, "what we do here is nothing less than magical. We make things beyond human imagination every _day_. We are the cradle of innovation, the very _peak_ of human achievement. This is where we change the world…"

He clicked his fingers and the door slid away. On the other side was a super-mega-ginormous hall. It was big, and I mean _really_ big. It looked like those military hangars you see in the movies, but times a thousand. It was easily as big as any of the terminals at JFK Airport, and probably much bigger, and it was completely full, every inch of it, with _gigantic_ robots.

"Welcome, children, to the Oscorp Experimental Science Division."

I couldn't believe my eyes, "How… how do you fit all this under New York…?"

"The mayor knows an opportunity when he sees it. He gave us permission to build as big as we wanted, no questions asked. So we did."

Harry's jaw was at his feet, "Dad… why didn't you bring me here sooner?"

"You weren't ready. You still aren't, but your mother suggested that you perhaps needed a bit of _motivation_."

"Thanks Mom."

" _Thanks Mom_ indeed, though you can't rely on her generosity forever Harry. I didn't build my empire on handouts. It's only my sheer force of will that shaped this company into what it is today, something you would do well to _remember_. Now, let's get this tour underway. I've got a meeting in an hour and I don't intend on missing it."

No textbook could have prepared me for what I saw that day at Oscorp. They had things that I'd never even _imagined_ could exist. We saw batteries the size of tennis balls containing as much energy as a dwarf star, spacetime-warping camo suits using technology derived from black holes, long-distance magnetoreceptor goggles, self-repairing nanotech armour, spaceship engines, adhesive bombs, quantum DNA manipulators and gigantic battle mechs so big that I nearly fell on my back trying to look up at them. I wanted to know how they worked. How were they made? How were they used? Everywhere I looked was full of amazing things, inspiring things. My eight year-old brain was swimming with ideas. I must've said 'wow' hundreds of times before we even reached my Dad's robot.

At first I didn't realize that what I was looking at was my dad's creation. Compared to everything else his robot looked plain, even boring. It was about as tall as a street light, just a small thing really, a sphere with dangly bits crudely stuck to it, a red and blue mess. But none of that mattered to me, because as soon as Mr. Osborn said, "This is your father's work," my first response was-

"Dad!"

I ran over and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"…Peni? What are you doing-"

"Richard," Mr. Osborn began, "I thought I'd show your daughter around."

Dad didn't seem happy to see me, "I appreciate the thought, Mr. Osborn, but I'm not sure it's safe here for a child her age."

"She's not just any normal child though, is she? From what I hear she's quite the genius. Wouldn't you say so, Peni?"

"Yeah Dad, it's okay! I promise I won't break anything!"

"I'm giving my boy a tour too," he continued, "someday all this will be his, after all."

Harry was as much in awe as I was, "You mean I get to own all _this_? All of it? Really?"

"Yes son, all of it, but don't take that as an excuse to slack off at school."

My dad didn't smile, "Again, I appreciate the sentiment Mr. Osborn, but Peni really should be at home. She gets a lot of homework."

"I'll get Ben to drive her back as soon as we're done. Perhaps you could explain your project to the children? You have my permission."

"With all due respect, I don't think that's wise. Children can't keep secrets like adults can. How about we-"

"Richard, please, humor me."

Dad sighed, and with his hand resting on my shoulder told us, "Well kids, you know how the police use robots to help them fight crime?"

I nodded, "Uh-huh!"

"Well this is like those robots. Normally a robot is either entirely mechanical, or has a pilot. When it's got a pilot it's not really a robot anymore - we called the piloted ones 'mechs'."

"Duh! I already knew that!"

I could tell he was holding back a grin, "I'm glad you're following along sweetheart. The reason I was explaining all that is because the mech _I'm_ making is, as far as we know, unique. And what makes it unique is unlike every other mech in world right now, my mech, this one right here, has _two_ pilots, except the mech treats them as just one, single pilot."

"Psychogenetic compatibility!" I cheered, proud of myself for knowing what he was talking about.

"How on Earth do you know that term?"

I winked, "Because I'm smart!"

"Because I taught it to her," Mr. Osborn interjected, "I drove her and Harry to school today."

Dad furrowed his brow, "Oh really?"

"She stood up for my boy at school, so I wanted to thank her personally. She's a strong girl, Richard. Spirited. She could go a long way."

"Stood up for him at school? You mean like in a fight? I didn't hear about any of this."

I felt my stomach drop. I'd completely forgotten to tell Dad about what happened...

"There'll be plenty of time to discuss that later. Right now I'd like to see the spider."

"The spider? Nothing's changed on that front, Mr. Osborn. It's still unpredictable, nowhere near ready for psychogenetic bonding yet."

"Where is it right now?"

"In the mech, but-"

"Release it."

"Are you sure? I was about to conduct an EEG, which would be far more helpful to understanding the effects of the radiation than merely looking at it."

"The test can wait. I want to see its progress with my own eyes."

"We'll need a container first, but-"

Mr. Osborn clicked his fingers, "Otto! Fetch me one of the wildlife containers. A small one."

No one replied. I still had no idea who 'Otto' was. I looked around but no one was coming our way. Then suddenly one of the panels on the floor rose up to reveal a metal pedestal carrying a glass box with a plastic lid.

"That doesn't look very strong," I commented.

"Don't be fooled by its appearance," Mr. Osborn assured me, "You couldn't break it even if you wanted to."

He picked it up and handed it to my dad, "You know what to do."

Dad hesitated for a moment, then, after adjusting his glasses, he yanked off the container's lid. Behind him was a tall, spindly stepladder, which he climbed till his feet were almost level with the mech's bulbous head. Then he got on all fours and crawled onto it. I heard a click, a hiss. Some steam fizzled into my dad's face. He coughed. Then I heard him speak, only quietly, with a low voice like when you don't wanna wake someone up.

"C'mere," he whispered, "thaaat's it, that's it, good boy, there we go."

With a _pop_ he sealed the container and shuffled back over to the stepladder.

The spider was a lot smaller than I expected it to be.

Harry said what I was thinking, "Is that it?"

Mr. Osborn tutted, "Do you realize what you're looking at, boy? This isn't just some insect-"

"Technically it's not an insect," I interrupted, "it's an arachnid."

He scowled at me silently, then as if I hadn't said anything, continued, "- _this_ is a genetically modified, highly irradiated super spider. Much more intelligent than any bug you've ever seen. Its brain is bioengineered to naturally synchronize with the mech. The mech is simply an extra limb as far as it's concerned."

"So the mech is like its body?" Harry asked.

"Exactly. And once it has psychogenetically linked with a pilot, the mech will be like the _pilot's_ body as well."

My dad gently tapped the container with his fingers, "I call it SP//dr."

I stared at the little creature through the glass, "Is that the spider's name?"

"Sort of. It's the spider's name, and the mech's name, _and_ the pilot's name. All three put together are SP//dr."

"But are they SP//dr when they're separate too?"

"I haven't decided on that yet. I'm not even sure it'll work."

"We'll _make_ it work," Mr. Osborn said, crouching down beside me to ogle at the spider. The spider seemed to watch him too, keeping all of its eyes firmly focused on Mr. Osborn's face.

"Richard, I want you to take this home."

"What!? Why?"

"You said yourself, SP//dr is incomplete without a pilot."

"Actually I said-"

"Have you considered that the _reason_ the spider is so unstable is because it's missing a key component? SP//dr needs a pilot."

"I'm just a researcher, Mr. Osborn. I can't help you choose a pilot."

"You misunderstand, Richard, you _are_ the pilot."

Dad was so shocked that he just stared down silently at the spider, his mouth hanging open.

"You're gonna get to ride in the robot!?" I squealed, "Dad that's so cool!"

Suddenly his face was stern. Rigid.

"No, I'm sorry Mr. Osborn. You need to find another pilot. Once someone has bonded with SP//dr, they and _only_ they will be able to manipulate it. I can't take that responsibility."

"Richard-"

"I know how much good this mech could do for the world, I _know_ how important it is, but I'm not the man. I can't be. I'm sorry. I can't."

I tugged at his lab coat, "But Dad-"

"Peni, not now."

Mr. Osborn didn't seem upset, "Sleep on it. Take the spider home for the weekend, get to know it. If you still don't want to pilot the machine next week, then we'll just scrap the project."

"You don't need to _scrap_ it, with a bit of time and the right pilot, it'll easily fulfill its purpose, and more. It's only a matter of time before another kaijuu attacks New York, and we barely survived the last one. This city needs SP//dr, Mr. Osborn."

"Exactly. We _need_ this to work, you're the only man I trust to do it," he said, resting a hand on my Dad's shoulder, "no one else understands this mech like you do."

"What about Ben? He's a brilliant scientist, and we have similar genes if that's your concern. I'm sure he'd jump at the chance to work on this. Please, Mr. Osborn, this hasn't got to be black and white. The mech is ready to go. It doesn't need _me_. Anyone could pilot it."

"Just take the spider home. I'll see you next week. You too Peni," he added, looking down at me with his eagle eyes.

He gave Harry a clap on the back, "All right boy, I'll show you the fighter planes and then you'll have to run along to your mother."

"Can't I stay here with Peni?"

"I'm afraid not. Peni has homework to do, as do you. Oh and Richard," he said, looking back as he strolled away, "you're free to leave as well. Take Peni with you."

"But-"

"I insist!"

Dad scratched the back of his head, "Well Peni, I guess I'm driving you home today."

* * *

I almost never got to ride in Dad's car. It was very… well used. There were bumps and scuffs and stains all over it, inside and out. The front seat wasn't so bad - it wasn't ripped or busted, though there was a whole stack of empty soda cans rolling around beneath my feet from the time Dad and I went on a road trip up to Michigan when I was six. You used to be able to ride in the back too, but now it was totally drowned in books, clothes and random lab equipment. So I sat in the front, my seatbelt loosely holding me in place while I put all my concentration into keeping the spider container safe on my lap.

"You should probably bring your stuff indoors sometime," I suggested.

"Then the apartment would be messy."

The spider crawled along the walls of his little home, following my finger as I traced an invisible path along the glass.

"He's very friendly."

"He's radioactive, too."

I let my finger sit in one place and the spider stood on top of it, gently swinging his front legs back and forth. I lifted the container so that I could get a better look at him. He didn't move. We watched each other, unafraid, inquisitive.

"I like you," I whispered. He stopped moving, his eyes locked on to mine. Suddenly my chest was filled with this feeling, a _knowing_ that the spider had understood what I just said. I pressed my nose against the container, trying to get as close as I possibly could, and my breath started to steam up the glass. Eventually the spider scuttled away, wandering around aimlessly like he had before. I put the container back on my lap.

"Why don't you wanna be a pilot, Dad? I'd wanna be a pilot if I was you."

"In another world, I'd do it without hesitation."

"Then why not this one?"

"It's dangerous, sweetheart. That machine is completely experimental in every sense of the word. It's like being a police officer, except all your equipment could backfire at any moment. I have to think about you."

"I'm _fine_ , I can totally take care of myself if you get injured or something."

He wasn't buying it.

"Peni, I was being serious yesterday. I'm gonna quit and get a normal job."

"You're not even gonna finish building SP//dr?"

"I'd give anything to be able to finish it, but you heard Mr. Osborn. I'm the only man he wants to pilot it. If I stay at Oscorp he'll never change his mind."

"How about I pilot it?"

"Absolutely not."

"But Daaad-"

"Nope! No way. You're only _eight_ , for a start."

"We could be a team."

"Not happening."

"Don't you trust me?"

"Peni I _love_ you, and that's exactly why neither of us are ever gonna get anywhere near that machine again if I can help it. I'll hand the spider in next week and Mr. Osborn can do whatever he likes with it. The only thing left for me to do now is find another job."

"But what if he kills him?"

"Why would he-"

"Without the mech he has no use for him, right?"

"I mean, he's already killed so many insects already, Peni, it's not like Oscorp-"

"What!?"

"Oh god I shouldn't have said that."

"Then we have to take care of him! Look how cute he is!"

"Well I wouldn't call him-"

"Look, look!" I insisted, shoving the container in his face.

"Peni! Not while I'm driving!"

I pulled the container back, squeezing it against my chest.

"…sorry."

He sighed, "It's okay, I understand sweetheart. This isn't how I wanted it to go either."

"Do you really have to hand SP//dr in?"

"He's not ours to keep. Oscorp needs him to make the mech work. They're connected."

"I know, but…"

"I'll talk to Uncle Ben. Maybe he can sort things out with Mr. Osborn."

"We can't let them kill SP//dr, Dad."

"I'll try my best, I promise."


	2. Thicker Than Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Osborn is gonna scrap the SP//dr project if Richard doesn't pilot the mech, but Peni refuses to let her new pet spider come to harm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Managed to get this one done earlier than expected, so I'm posting it earlier too! Enjoy :)

We got back from the lab to find the TV had turned itself on. Again.

"This is April Maye here with doctor Curtis Connors, a biomedical researcher and kaijuu expert at the Reed Richards Science Center. Doctor Connors, you've been warning the public about the possibility of a new kaijuu attack for months now, but the mayor refuses to say how he's going to protect the city if the worst happens. Do you think it's time people started preparing to protect themselves?"

"Well April, I'm not sure there's much the public _can_ do. What we need now is a robust government response, and soon. America doesn't have a 'Godzilla' to protect it like Japan does. What we _do_ have is Stegron, who without fail digs his way out of the Appalachians every ten years and wreaks havoc on New York City. We _know_ that he's coming, we can predict it down to the day. That day is-"

Dad switched the TV off, "That's enough of that, thank you very much."

"What's Stegron, Dad?" I asked as I tugged my shoes off, leaving the laces tied in messy knots.

"Stegron is a kaijuu, a kind of gigantic monster. Remember that time we had to hide underground? You were only little."

"I remember. That's the time the elevator broke, right?"

"We should've taken the stairs."

"So that was Stegron? The TV said he comes every ten years."

"That wasn't Stegron, but it _was_ a kaijuu. Thankfully it didn't have the super strong skin most kaijuu have, so Oscorp was able to destroy it before it did too much damage."

"You mean you can't just shoot them?"

"Definitely not."

"Not even with lasers?"

"Not even with lasers. In the end they had to use an antimatter cannon to get rid of it."

"Wow."

"Yeah, it was a tough cookie."

"Was it big?"

He stroked his chin, "Depends on what you call 'big'. There's big, then there's _big_ big. Stegron is _big_ big. You've never seen Stegron. The last time Stegron attacked was before you were even born! I don't think your Mom was even pregnant with you."

"That long, huh."

He opened a cupboard and pulled out a big bottle of self-cooling soda, "Yep, a loooong time ago."

I put SP/dr down on the breakfast table, "Was Mom a scientist too?"

Dad paused for a minute, then replied, "No. She worked in one of those instant delivery warehouses. She performed maintenance on the delivery teleporters and things like that. Like a mechanic."

"That sounds pretty sciencey to me."

"She was a genius Peni, like you," he said as he looked out the window. I couldn't read his expression.

"Do I look like her?"

He laughed, "No… unfortunately, sweetheart, you look like your old man."

I grinned, "So you're saying I'm ugly?"

"I prefer the word, 'unique'."

He poured us both a mug of soda and sat down at the table. I swung my legs back and forth in my seat as I downed the mug's sweet contents, watching SP/dr mill about in his little glass house. It almost glowed in the setting sun's orange light. I started to worry that he might be getting hot, so I shifted the container to the side of the table, into the shade. Dad watched in silence, his eyes focused on SP/dr but his mind somewhere else. I watched him watch SP/dr. I went to drink more soda but then remembered that I'd already cleaned out my mug.

"Dad… Dad?"

"Hm? Sorry Peni I was lost in thought for a second there."

"Can I have some more soda?"

He raised one eyebrow, mock-judging me, " _Another_ soda?"

"Pleeeeease?"

With a smile he got out of his seat and filled my mug to the brim with bubbly soda, "But this is your last one for tonight."

"Daaad, come on."

"You heard me."

"I can handle way more!"

"If I give you any more you'll crash out before you do your homework."

"The homework's easy, I could do it in my sleep."

"Now _that'd_ be impressive."

"You mean I can try?"

"No."

"I could probably do it."

"I don't doubt it, but the answer's still no."

"Do I _have_ to do homework today? Can't we play video games together instead?"

"There's time for both, sweetheart."

"Let's do video games first."

"No, homework first."

"Come oooonnnnn."

"I know you hate it."

"It's boring!"

"The teacher will get mad if you don't do it."

"No he won't, Mr. Newton is chill."

"Peni-"

"He is! He's super chill! He doesn't care what I do during his lessons!"

"Even so, we don't want him to think you're lazy."

"Fine, fine," I downed my second mug of soda, "I'll speedrun the homework then I'll be right back!"

I ran towards my room, but when I reached my bedroom door suddenly an idea occurred to me. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked back towards the kitchen, "Can I bring SP/dr with me?"

Dad rubbed his face, "Uh… well, as long as you don't open the container, I can't see the harm, but-"

"Okay, thanks Dad!" I replied as I dashed over to the table and swept SP/dr into my arms.

"Be careful with him, Peni!"

"I will!"

I kicked the door shut, placed SP/dr on my desk and flopped onto my bed.

"Homework…"

SP/dr watched from his container as I turned on my phone and accessed my school's app. Everyone had to have it installed on their phones, not just for homework, but to make sure they weren't skipping class, too. It even tracked you on the way home to make sure you got back safe. Apparently a pervy teacher used it to spy on some students once, but I wasn't worried about that - I'd already dealt with my fair share of weirdos. One time a creepy highschooler tried to hack my phone after I blocked him on some chat app, so I sent him a virus that made his battery explode. He never contacted me again.

"Do I even have homework today?"

I scrolled down the list of subjects. None of them had homework, except for History. Mr. Newton wanted me to make a list of facts about some dude called 'Abraham Lincoln'.

"Boooring."

I went to wikipedia. The thousand year-old encyclopedia was probably full of articles about ancient history. Sure enough, there he was, so old his photo was in sepiatone.

"There isn't even any video footage of him," I said to SP/dr. He twiddled his forelegs.

Lincoln's hair looked kinda like my Dad's, "Born in 1809 AD… this guy's like, super ancient."

The wikipedia page was full of all sorts of facts and details about 'the 16th president of the United States (1861-1865)': his parents were poor, he mostly educated himself, and he could wrestle, too. It also said he abolished slavery and inspired a civil war.

"Sounds a bit like the robot uprising we had that time. I was around for that, right? I feel like Uncle Ben mentioned it before."

SP/dr crawled along the walls of his container. He couldn't reply even if he wanted to.

"Anyway, this should be enough. I can go over the wiki entry again if I need to on Monday."

I typed up the facts into my phone and clicked 'Submit'. There. Now the weekend was mine! I grabbed SP/dr and dashed out of my room.

"Alright Dad I did it now let's play!"

But he was on the phone. He had a serious look on his face.

"Hang on Ben, I'll have to call you back later."

"Who're you talking to?"

He hung up, "Just Uncle Ben, sweetheart. You sure finished that homework fast!"

"I _told_ you it was easy."

With tired eyes and a weak smile he asked me, "What game do you wanna play?"

I frowned, "Are you sure you wanna?"

"Absolutely."

"Are you really sure?"

"Really sure."

"Really _really_ sure?"

"Is it the bags under my eyes? I always have these, you know that. You're worrying over nothing, sweetheart."

"Well okay... if you insist-"

"And I _do_ insist," he replied, walking over to our collection of games consoles.

"-then maybe we can play a racing game?"

"A racing game, huh? Which one?"

"The one where you kill each other!"

He laughed, "You don't kill each other in Mariokart, Peni, you just _inconvenience_ each other."

"With explosions."

"They're not lethal explosions."

"I hate the bananas most."

"Everyone does. Bananas are evil."

"Except when you're eating them."

"I don't like bananas."

"Did Mom like bananas?"

"Not in Mariokart she didn't."

"Did you blow her up with bombs?"

He winked at me, "Only sometimes."

We played for almost two hours, racing on every track and its mirror version before we finally got fed up with throwing shells at each other.

"Enough Mariokart for today," I said, "Let's play something else."

"Or," my Dad replied, "we could take a break."

"You don't wanna play?"

He ruffled my hair, "Sure I wanna play, but you know what I wanna do more? _Eat_. I'm starving."

As he said those words I realized my stomach felt pretty empty too.

"Are we getting takeout again?"

"Oh I dunno, maybe we could-" he looked at the broken dishwasher, bursting at the seams with pots and pans that hadn't been washed in days, "-maybe takeout is a good idea."

"Let's get McDonald's!"

"I think we can do better than that, Peni. How about pizza?"

"Oh my god I forgot about pizza!"

He brought his hands to his cheeks in mock surprise, "You forgot about _pizza_? How _could_ you!?"

"I didn't mean to!"

"Well now I'm gonna have to tell the pizza you forgot about it!"

"Not before I eat it you won't!"

"I'll whisper the truth into the box before you can grab it!"

"Then I'll eat the box!"

"You'll eat the box?"

"The whole box!"

"I suppose it's got lots of fiber in it."

"'Good for pooping', right?"

"What?"

"That's what you used to tell me when I was a kid-"

"You still are a kid."

"You used to tell me I need to eat vegetables cos they have lots of fiber and fiber is 'good for pooping'."

"I don't remember saying that, but I'll take your word for it."

I threw my arms up in exasperation, "You said it all the time!"

"So, what do you want on your pizza? I take it we _are_ going with pizza?"

"Definitely pizza."

"It's been a while since we had pizza."

"I just want cheese and tomato."

"No other toppings?"

"Nope!"

"You like thin crust, right?"

"Yes."

"That sounds good to me."

"So do I get a whole pizza to myself?"

He smirked, "Would you finish it by yourself?"

" _Yes_."

"We can share."

"Make sure it's a big pizza then."

"I'm ordering it now," he said as he stared at his phone.

"A big one?"

"It'll be plenty big enough."

"It better be."

"It will be."

I leaned on his shoulder and snooped at his phone screen, "Do they do instant delivery?"

"Locally."

"How close do you have to be?"

"We're close enough."

"Yeah but _how_ close?"

"It's just a few floors down. That's about as local as it gets."

"Wait, it's in our building!? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I only just found out myself."

"What's it called?"

"Dante's."

"Dante! He wrote that book, didn't he?"

"I think it's a different Dante, Peni."

"No I _know_ that, but didn't he write a book?"

"Dante's Inferno."

"Yeah, that one! I read about it at school."

That raised his eyebrows, "The teacher was covering Dante's Inferno in a grade school lesson?"

"No Dad, I read it in a _book_."

"So he let you ignore his lesson this time?"

"He always lets me ignore him, I just kept forgetting to bring a book with me."

"You can't read on your phone?"

"They automatically turn off inside classrooms."

"Very convenient."

"Not for me."

"Good point. Do you remember what he was trying to teach you?"

"Probably something to do with ancient history, going by the homework he set. Old American presidents and stuff. Nothing important."

"History's important, Peni, you never know when it might repeat itself. Your Mom liked history."

"I'm more interested in the future."

"Speaking of the future," Dad said, shoving his phone in his pocket, "our pizza's ready for delivery. I'll just make sure our receiver's on…"

He walked over to a clear box sitting next to the front door and tapped the touchscreen on its lid. He tapped it a few more times then said, "Yep, seems to be working just fine."

As soon as those words left his mouth the receiver started sparking and smoking.

"Oh no…"

The fireworks immediately triggered the box's failsafe power-down mechanism. The touchscreen went black. The receiver was dead.

I was beside myself, "Is it working!? Can you turn it back on!?"

"I'm sorry sweetheart…"

"But what about our pizza!?"

He sighed, "I'll have to go collect it in person. It should still be with them, assuming the malfunction happened before they sent it."

Never in my entire life had we needed to go and collect home-delivery pizza in person. I didn't even know how that worked! But I trusted him to do it, and promised not to open the door to anyone while he went down to the pizza place.

As soon as the front door closed I picked up SP/dr and cuddled his container on the couch. If we had one of those fancy apartments like the ones on Park Avenue the receiver would've already fixed itself by now. Heck, we probably could've 3D printed our own pizza in-house with that kinda money! Instead we were stuck in our little box in 'Ingram Mansions'. I tilted SP/dr's container and watched him through the glass. Did he get frustrated being trapped in there too?

"You don't look dangerous to me. I don't know why they can't just let you do your thing. Just because they're stopping Dad's project…"

I shook my head. No, I couldn't think about that. I couldn't bear to think about them getting rid of SP/dr.

"I won't let them. I swear I won't let them-"

Suddenly the holophone started ringing. Its high-pitched, tinny ringtone cut through the silence like a knife. I put SP/dr on the couch and walked over to the holophone interface. It was a private number. We didn't usually get phone calls, not to our house. If people needed Dad they called his cell.

_Maybe it's important…_

It continued to ring.

_If I leave it any longer the caller might just hang up. Do holophones accept messages? You can't just call private numbers back. If they don't leave a message we'll have no idea who it is. No, I have to do something. I have to._

I took a deep breath, then I pushed the 'ACCEPT' button. Immediately a shimmering holographic man materialized in the middle of the apartment.

"Richard? It's me."

It was Mr. Osborn.

I walked up to his hologram, "Hello Mr. Osborn. Dad isn't in right now."

He rested his hands on his hips, "Oh really? Where is he?"

"Out getting pizza."

Mr. Osborn didn't seem bothered by that information, "Is that so? Well perhaps you can take a message for me. Do you think you can do that?"

"Sure!" I replied, suddenly feeling very important.

"Tell your father that I'm setting up a school at Oscorp. A special school, for talented children such as yourself. I'll have my experts do all the teaching. I'll even allow the students to make use of some of the labs with Otto's supervision. Best of all, the entire thing will be free of charge for Oscorp employees. Make sure you tell him that part. I've already talked it over with your current school and if your father accepts they can move all your records over immediately. Harry will be moving too, of course."

"For real!? You're just doing all that, for free!?"

"For Oscorp employees, yes."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "So you'll just let me join? I haven't gotta do any tests?"

"No tests. You're more than capable of keeping up with the curriculum my team have designed."

I was speechless. My grin was so wide it was hurting my cheeks.

"When can I start?"

"The school will be opening in a few weeks, but you're so advanced that I want you to have special one-to-one tuition outside of classes."

"Special tuition!?"

"That's right. In fact we can start the one-to-one lessons right away, at Oscorp headquarters, if your father approves."

_Am I dreaming?_

Mr. Osborn crouched down so our eyes were level, "So can you tell him all that for me?"

I was literally shaking with excitement, "I'll tell him! I'll definitely tell him! Thank you so much!"

"Not at all," he smiled, "It's my pleasure."

He gave me a wave and then he disappeared, leaving the apartment dim and quiet once more.

I ran back to the couch and lifted SP/dr in the air, "Did you hear that!? I'm gonna get to use a real lab, and get special tuition, and learn cool stuff, and Harry'll be there, and it's gonna be so cool oh my god, in a REAL LAB, SP/dr, A REAL LAB!"

I heard the front door's lock click open. Dad was back with pizza.

"Dad, Dad!" I cried, pulling on his pizza-laden arms, "Mr. Osborn called!"

"What? Hang on, let me just put the pizza down sweetheart."

"He said he's starting a special school!"

Dad put the pizza box on the table, "A special school?"

"For Oscorp employees or something and it's free, and they're gonna give me special tuition and even let me use the lab!"

He frowned, "Slow down… you already have a school… why-"

"Yeah but this is a new one, and Harry'll be there too, and he said Otto might even teach me."

He stared down at the pizza box, his face totally blank, "Otto…? How could, no, there must be some mistake there, Peni. Otto's not-"

"No I swear that's what he said! I swear!"

He ran his hands through his messy hair, "I believe you, but, I just, I don't understand. I'm gonna have to call him. It doesn't make sense. He's never mentioned anything like this before."

I felt my heart sink, "Aren't you happy?"

He looked at me, then turned back to the table, "I mean, I'm glad he's offering us this, Peni, if it's what you say it is, but it's a bit sudden, don't you think? Let's think it over."

I stepped back, "You don't want me to go, right?"

"No that's not it at all, sweetheart."

"It is."

"Peni."

I picked up SP/dr. Dad walked towards me, "Peni, the pizza's gonna get cold. Let's find something stupid to watch on TV together. We can cuddle up on the couch like we used to."

"I'm not hungry, and I don't wanna cuddle."

"Come on, don't be like that."

I took another step back, "I'm not hungry."

"We can talk about the school in the morning. I just need to check the details. I'm not saying you can't go. Please don't be mad, sweetheart."

"I'm going to my room."

"Peni… Peni!"

But I didn't wanna hear anymore. I stormed down the hall, slammed my bedroom door shut and crawled into bed, tucking SP/dr under the covers with me.

"Stupid Dad, stupid, _stupid_."

It was so dark I couldn't even see where SP/dr was inside his container.

"I'm gonna be stuck here forever, in my crappy school, reading books on my own."

I felt tears welling in my eyes, "What's even the big deal? Why can't I ever do anything cool? Finally I get to actually be in Oscorp's labs but noooooo not me I'm not good enough. I'm just gonna break stuff or whatever. _Stupid_. I don't belong anywhere. No one wants me. My school doesn't want me, Dad doesn't even want me. Now Harry's going, and I won't be there, it'll just be me at school alone forever."

I squeezed SP/dr against me, "And they're gonna take you away from me too. But I won't let them. I…"

From down the hall I heard my Dad's voice.

"Ben? I can't get through to Osborn… It's about the school, he's starting a school, apparently… Well he's invited Peni, without my permission… Did you know about this? …I _am_ annoyed, you should've seen him earlier today too, he was being- …No I'm not overreacting, Ben, she's my daughter, not his, he has no right to change her school without consulting me first… No, of course I want that for her, of course I do, but it's not about that. This is a power play Ben, pure and simple. It's obvious. He's probably pissed that I won't pilot his damn mech… Oh come on, you're acting like this is the first time he's tried to coerce me into some scheme of his… He's always got an angle, that's just how he works, but for some reason he wants to involve Peni in it this time, and I'm not having it… I don't know, I… it's not off the table, let's put it that way… Well if it comes to that, so be it… I want the project to continue as much as you do, but what choice do I have? …I know I can trust you, Ben… Yeah, I have no choice… I'll hand the spider in on Monday and he can do whatever he likes with it. That's how it has to be."

I can't say exactly why I did what I did then, but it wasn't something I thought through or planned. I just _knew_ what I had to do. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I did what I knew I _had_ to to protect my friend. I threw back the covers, grabbed the lid to SP/dr's container, and yanked it off as hard as I could. It flew off to the other side of the room, smacking my desk on its way down before tumbling onto the carpeted floor.

It was pitch black. I had no idea where SP/dr was. Suddenly I was nervous. Dad had warned me not to let him out of the container.

"SP/dr?" I whispered. Then I felt it, tickling my hand, my arm, my shoulder. It scurried across my neck and sat on my cheek. For the first time ever I was afraid of my eight-legged friend. My breathing was heavy. I could feel it stroking the little hairs on my cheek. Dad was gonna be so mad at me. I shouldn't have let it out.

"You won't bite me, right? We're friends, right?"

He stayed still, his legs pressing gently against my face, like a tiny pebble on my skin. I began to relax.

"I knew you weren't dangerous."

Then I heard Dad's footsteps thundering down the hall. Was he mad? Did he know? He couldn't have known. But he was gonna find out. There was no way I could put SP/dr back in the box now.

The door swung open. Light flooded into my bedroom. I squinted, held my hand over my eyes.

"Peni," Dad said, "I'm sorry about earlier."

I lowered my hand, "It's okay."

He froze, "Wait… is that… is that SP/dr?"

I felt my throat tighten up, "I let him out of the box… I was worried you were gonna kill him."

He took one slow step towards me, "Peni… if SP/dr bites you, you'll be psychogenetically linked with him."

"Like with the mech?"

"Exactly, with the mech. But only _you_ would be linked with it. You'd have to be the pilot. We can't have that Peni, he needs to go back in the box. Where's the container?"

I pointed off to the side, too nervous to say any more.

"Okay, I'm gonna pick the lid up, and then I need you to put him back in the box for me. Very, very slowly, okay?"

SP/dr stayed put on my cheek, casually twiddling his forelegs. I gulped down nothing. My throat was bone dry, "Dad, I don't think SP/dr's dangerous. He didn't bite me."

He carefully lifted the lid off of the carpet, "I can't take any chances."

I could feel myself crying again, "Dad, you can't kill him."

"I'm not gonna kill him."

"You're gonna let…" I sobbed, "Mr. Osborn take him away."

"Please, sweetheart."

"He's my friend, Dad. Please don't kill him. He's only little. He's just a tiny little spider."

He crept towards me, his face hidden in shadows, his body a silhouette against the light flooding in from the hallway, "I've got the lid now. If you give me the box, we can put him back in, and everything will be okay."

"No!"

I dragged the bed covers over my head. SP/dr dashed off my cheek and settled on my chest, just below my neck.

"Peni!" Dad yelled, making me flinch, "You're gonna hurt yourself! You don't know what you're doing! Just give me the spider, please sweetheart this is serious!"

I was crying so hard I couldn't even form words. I tried to speak but all that came out was sobbing. I held the covers over me, expecting him to drag them off at any moment, but he didn't. Instead he collapsed and let his head sink against my legs.

He sighed, "Peni, please."

I couldn't speak.

"I know this isn't what you wanted, sweetheart. This isn't what I wanted either. I wanted a job that made a difference in the world. I wanted us to be happy. I never meant to make a monster."

"He's…not a monster, Dad."

I heard him shuffle along the floor beside the bed, getting closer and closer to my face. I could feel his breath hitting the covers.

"I'm sorry, Peni. For everything."

"He's my friend."

"I know."

"I get so lonely, Dad. No one at school likes me."

"Harry likes you."

"Only Harry. Everyone else thinks I'm a freak. Even the teachers don't like me."

"You know that's not true."

"It is true. I'm not like them. I don't belong with them. I don't belong anywhere. I just… I just thought maybe Mr. Osborn's special school… I don't know…"

I felt his hand rest on the bed, no more than an inch away from mine, "You've had a hard time, haven't you? I had no idea…"

"I don't wanna be alone anymore…"

I could hear him crying quietly beside me, beyond the covers. I'd never heard my Dad cry before.

"You're not alone," he whispered, "I love you, Peni. I love you just as you are and I'll always be here for you. Always."

I rubbed my eyes, "You're at work all the time. I never get to see you."

He stroked my blanket-covered head, "I know…"

"I thought…" I said, holding back more sobbing, "I thought maybe if I went to school where you worked, I could see you more."

He didn't say anything. The sound of my heartbeat pulsed in my ears, "Visiting you today was like being in a dream. All those things… everything I'd ever read about was there in front of me. And your mech Dad… it looks kinda stupid, and it's small but… I really like it. It made me really proud… I was so proud that you're my Dad."

He sobbed into my bed. My pillow was soaked with his tears and mine, "I wanna work with you Dad. Together. I wanna make cool things with you, I wanna be with you all the time… and with SP/dr. One big team. Don't you think that'd be cool?"

I felt him nod, "That'd be wonderful, sweetheart."

"Is it… really impossible?"

"It's not impossible. There is a way. There's one way."

"I didn't mean to make you cry, Dad. I'm sorry. This is all my fault. If I was normal none of this would be happening."

He hugged me through the covers, "Don't you ever wish to be normal, Peni. You're _beautiful_ , you're _perfect_ just as you are. Who can blame you for wanting to follow your imagination? There's nothing wrong with that. What's wrong is this _world_."

"Dad?"

"We shouldn't have to choose between seeing each other or following our dreams. Between being together or having a roof over our head. It's just wrong. But I'll fix it, Peni. You wanna be in that school, right?"

"I do, but-"

"Well then you can be in it. Don't you worry."

"It's okay if I can't, Dad. I don't wanna make you upset. I understand now."

"No!" he said, forcefully but without anger, "We can have our cake and eat it. We'll show that bastard Osborn what the Parkers are made of."

"Dad you swore!"

"Sorry."

We fell into silence. I listened to his breath hitting the covers, felt the warmth of mine coil around my cheeks and snotty nose. I was a mess. I felt like a mess. But I felt relieved. I'd never had the chance to open up to someone before, not even my dad. I'd never realized how much I _needed_ it.

"Will you let me see your face now?" he asked, his voice soft and singsong. He was already back to his usual goofy self. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Peeking out from under the covers, I said, "You gotta promise you won't hurt SP/dr."

He looked at me, the light twinkling in his eyes. He had tears on his cheeks too, "I promise. Can I see him?"

I pulled the covers down. SP/dr was still there on my chest, sitting above my heart. Dad let the lid he was holding fall to the floor by his feet.

"I think I need a tissue," I said. My nose was so runny that snot was starting to leak into my mouth.

He laughed just a little, "I think we both do. Is there any in here?"

"In my desk drawer."

He pulled out the tissue box and wiped my nose for me, "I didn't mean to make you so upset, sweetheart."

I didn't know what to say to that. He gently stroked my hair, "You're my precious little girl. I don't want you to get hurt."

My eyes started to well up again, "I promise I won't."

He hugged me, "I know you won't, because I'll keep you safe. Everything's gonna be alright."

He kissed me on the cheek, and I kissed him back. His stubble tickled my nose.

"You need a shave," I joked.

"No," he replied, "I need pizza. Do you wanna join me?"

I shook my head, "I'm not hungry anymore."

"Are you sure?"

"One million percent."

He smiled, "Well I'll save you some. I think I know a way to keep it warm."

"You're gonna let me have pizza for breakfast?"

"Lunch. If you have pizza for breakfast whose milk am I gonna steal?"

"At least you admit you're a thief!"

We laughed together. Suddenly everything felt right. I almost forgot about how stressed I'd been just moments ago.

Dad stood up, "Okay, I'm gonna have my pizza now. Are you staying here?"

I nodded.

"Alright then sweetheart. Can I ask you a favor before I go?"

"Sure, Dad."

"Can I take SP/dr with me? I won't put him in the box."

"You better not, or else I'll be really annoyed."

"He's not dangerous. You were right to let him out."

"Really? But earlier you said-"

"I changed my mind," he replied with conviction.

"Well if you wanna take him with you, you should let him climb on your hand."

He did. He extended his hand out and SP/dr climbed right on it without hesitation. I was kinda jealous cos I wanted to sleep with SP/dr beside me, but it made me happy to see Dad and SP/dr getting along. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep almost as soon as they'd left the room.

Sometimes I wonder if I could've done anything differently. If I'd never mentioned the Oscorp school Dad wouldn't have got angry and I wouldn't have got upset. He wouldn't have needed to come into my room. I wouldn't have let SP/dr out of the box. He wouldn't have taken SP/dr with him that fateful night. He wouldn't have made the decision he did.

But I couldn't have known. I could never have known how far he'd go to protect me, and I could never have known how much that would cost us both in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing Peni and her dad so much, it's gonna kill me when I have to write the inevitable tragedy later on 8___8


	3. Great Minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the morning after Peni's big talk with her Dad. He's getting along better with SP//dr now, but he seems a little... different, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took about the usual amount of time it takes me to write a chapter. It was hard to get it just right but I think I got there in the end! Hope you enjoy :) Next chapter may also take two weeks or so but we'll see!

"Rise and shine, sweetheart!"

I opened my eyes and saw my dad staring down at me with a grin on his face.

"Dad…? It's a weekend."

"I know, and we get to spend all of it together!"

"You aren't going in to the lab?"

"Nope!" he said, leaning down and kissing me on the cheek, "Mr. Osborn gave me the weekend off, remember?"

"I thought he said-"

"He said take SP//dr home! So I did, and now SP//dr is here. If he wants me to mess around with the mech he'll just have to wait till Monday."

Too groggy to take in anything he was saying, I tumbled out of bed and followed him into the combination kitchen/lounge. The sun was only just starting to slip in through the window. I rubbed my tired eyes and shuffled towards the breakfast table. Dad had certainly been busy: the bowls were out, the milk was out, the cereal was out. All the ingredients of our usual breakfast were there, and sitting amongst them, looking comfy as can be, was SP//dr.

"Did SP//dr sleep okay?" I asked, still half-asleep myself.

"Oh I think so, Peni. He crawled onto my forehead and wouldn't shift from there the whole night!"

"He slept on your _head?"_

"He sure did. The little scamp."

Dad reached down and SP//dr climbed nimbly up his hairy arm. Suddenly I became aware that I had, yet again, fallen asleep in my school uniform. I sniffed my shirt.

"I stink."

"Hm?" Dad had already filled our bowls with cereal and was now pouring in the milk.

"I slept in my uniform again."

"We have plenty of time to wash it today. Have a seat, I'm starving!"

I sat down and Dad immediately started powering through his cereal.

"Don't you wanna let it make the milk brown first?" I asked, amazed at how fast he was shoveling the tiny UFOs into his mouth.

He paused, a look of genuine surprise on his face, "Oh yeah, silly me! I'll just add some more. I could easily eat seconds, and heck, why not treat myself? Do you want more?"

I hadn't even started on my first bowl.

"Uh… no, I'm good."

He refilled his bowl and sat perfectly still, watching the milk gradually change color like a hidden tiger watches its prey.

"Dad," I said, squishing my Chocolate UFOs down into the milk with my spoon, "are you okay? You're acting kinda funny."

He furrowed his brows, "I am? Well I feel fine. In fact I feel fantastic!"

The strangest thing was he _looked_ fantastic too. He was bristling with energy from head to toe. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him so happy.

He gave me a warm smile and gently stroked my hair, "It's just so wonderful to spend time with you. To be here, alive. Free. I don't know. I guess I've got a new perspective on life."

"A new perspective on life, huh?"

"Hey, are you gonna eat that?"

"Hm?"

Like an eagle swooping down on a field mouse he sunk his spoon into my bowl and stole some cereal right from under my nose.

"Delicious," he said, with a satisfied grin.

I glared at him, "One day I'll get my revenge, you know."

"That's the spirit."

* * *

After breakfast Dad put my uniform in the washing machine and I changed into clothes that _hadn't_ been worn for two days straight.

"You're wearing your polka dot dress! I haven't seen that one in a while," he said as I left my bedroom.

"It's comfy."

"You should wear it more. It's very pretty. "

"It stands out too much."

"You can never stand out too much."

I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him on the cheek, "Can I play with SP//dr for bit?"

"Only if he wants to, sweetheart."

I rested my hand beside where SP//dr was sitting on my dad's shoulder. At first he just stared at my open palm, but then after wiggling his legs about a bit he crept across my fingers and up along my arm to sit on my shoulder instead.

Dad looked towards the window, "Actually Peni, I was thinking, how about we go out for a walk today? I can't remember the last time we visited the park together."

"I was six."

"Well then we're long overdue a trip there, don't you think?"

I frowned, "But what about SP//dr?"

"He can come with us."

"In his box?"

"No boxes necessary - he can sit on your shoulder. I mean, unless you don't want him to?"

"No no! He can sit on my shoulder! I don't mind!"

Dad laughed, "I thought you'd say that."

"So are we going right now?"

"I don't see why not."

"I'll put my shoes on!"

"Do you need me to tie your laces for you?"

"It's fine. They're still tied up from yesterday."

He tutted at the tangled mess of knots I'd wrangled my laces into.

"I'll give you points for creativity, but this is definitely _not_ the way they were designed to be used."

"I hate laces. They're impossible to tie up."

"You just have to learn the right way to do it."

"I _know_ the right way, Dad."

"I know, sweetheart, but-"

"Let me do them my way. It's fine," I insisted as I dragged my shoes onto my feet.

He picked up our front door's keycard, "Uncle Ben's the same. He _still_ can't tie his shoelaces."

"Really!?"

"Next time you see him, look at his shoes. You won't find any laces on them - but don't tell him I told you."

I zipped up my mouth with my fingers, "My lips are sealed."

Finally suited up and ready to go, we walked out the front door and into the warm New York air.

"Global warming has a lot to answer for, but I can't say I hate not having cold winters anymore," Dad joked as he locked the door.

"I dunno, I'd like to know what real snow feels like."

"The synthetic stuff is the same as the real stuff, it just comes from a nozzle instead of a cloud."

"Still…"

I looked over the edge of the balcony that connected all the apartments on our floor. We were on the north side. Each floor had two balconies, one for north, one for south, and there were a lot of floors. We were somewhere in the middle, and even that was pretty high up. From my perspective, looking over the edge, it seemed like our building stretched down and down forever. The bottom was totally obscured by mist and the ever-moving river of cars rushing through the air.

_I guess there's a reason they call them 'high rises'._

"Right," came Dad's voice from behind me, "shall we go?"

* * *

It wasn't a short journey. We walked across dozens of bridges, going from building to building for ages till we finally reached the sky gardens over Central Park. Like pretty much everything in New York it was rebuilt after the Climate Crisis reached its peak in 2562, and when they rebuilt stuff they put it all as high up as possible. Nowadays they keep the ocean away from the city with gigantic palladium microalloy glass walls, so the ground isn't off-limits like it used to be.

"It's been too long," Dad said with a wistful smile as the park's main atrium came into view. The glass entrance was framed by an angular, metallic arch that stretched right across the width of the bridge we were walking along. The only thing marring the beautiful scene was the never-ending array of billboards, which were placed at regular intervals along the bridge.

"Get the latest gossip! Download the Gene-Pop app now!" one yelled as we walked past it.

SP//dr crawled into my hair to hide from the visual noise.

"They sell donuts in the gardens, right?" I asked Dad as a billboard flipped to an ad all about tasty, freshly made Central Park donuts.

"Hungry already? You've got food on the brain."

"I just like donuts."

"And chocolate, and lollipops, and chewy candy."

"Who doesn't like candy?"

He laughed, "I'm just saying you've got a heck of a sweet tooth."

"It's not my fault that adult food is boring."

"Actually I could go for a donut too. Maybe even six donuts."

"What, you're hungry _already_ …?" I mimicked.

"Alright, alright, you've made your point!"

We neared the arch. Beyond it stretched the still lakes and green meadows of Central Park. Even though it was in the heart of the city, somehow it was as quiet as if it were on another planet entirely. Small clusters of people trickled in and out of the park, but for the most part it was empty, or at least felt empty. It looked just as beautiful as I remembered. I ran forward towards the big, colorful map standing just beyond the arch, which exclaimed 'Welcome!' in bright rainbow letters. My shoes clacked on the steel floor. My arms were spread wide, then-

"PENI!" Dad yelled, grabbing my hand.

He pulled me back with such force that my whole body did a 180 on the spot. My balance was gone. One of my feet caught the other and I stumbled into his chest, hurting my nose. I stared up at him, stunned into silence. His eyes were filled with panic. Then, before I could even ask him what was wrong, I heard a colossal crack behind me. I looked around - the arch had fractured in two. Suddenly it tumbled down onto the bridge, shattering and sending fragments flying through the air. A whole sheet of metal shot right over my head. Some people screamed. Some ran. Most were like me: frozen.

I realized I was holding my breath and let out a huge sigh, making my whole body shiver.

"It landed right where I was standing…" I said, half to myself. Dad didn't reply. SP//dr crawled out of my hair and onto my cheek, perhaps to see what was going on.

Dad pulled me close and pressed his head into my shoulder. "Thank god I caught you in time…" he said, breathless, "I just knew… I just knew something was gonna happen."

I squeezed him tight, "It's okay Dad. I'm alive, see? And SP//dr's alive too. He was in my hair. You saved us."

He kissed the top of my head, "When we get in the park I'll get you all the donuts you want."

"Do you think they'll let us in?"

"If we hurry we might be able to sneak in before they cordon the bridge off."

Holding hands, we hurried past the collapsed arch, hopping over fallen debris as we went. Within a few seconds we were in Central Park proper, just in time to avoid the flood of security personnel rushing out to move people off of the bridge.

"Welcome," I said, reading the park map's message out loud.

"I still can't believe that happened."

"My legs still feel kinda shaky," I replied.

"Mine too."

"I've never seen something just break like that before."

"It never happens. Not with bridges."

"Do you think they'll fix it before we leave?"

"I hope so."

I stared at the map, "We need some donuts to calm our nerves - if I can find them that is… I can't see 'em on here."

"SP//dr says they're this way," Dad said from behind me. I turned around and saw he was pointing off to my right.

"What do you mean SP//dr says they're that way? SP//dr's right here," I replied, pointing to SP//dr who was sitting comfortably on my shoulder.

"I uh, yeah, no idea why I said that. Ignore me. Let's check the map again."

"No, wait, let _me_ ask SP//dr."

"Sweetheart, forget what I said, I think my brain is still a bit frazzled from earlier."

I walked to where my dad was standing and held my arms out on either side of me, like a scarecrow, "All right SP//dr, which way is it?"

SP//dr immediately crawled along my left arm, right down till he was sitting on top of my hand. It was the direction Dad had been pointing in.

"It worked!" I cheered, feeling proud that I'd been able to actually communicate with SP//dr.

"Good job, Peni!"

"But how did _you_ do it, Dad?"

He looked off into the distance, "I didn't."

"But-"

"It's this way, right?" he asked, strolling down a tree-lined path.

"Daaaad!"

He looked at me over his shoulder, "Come on, slowpoke."

I ran up to him, "Tell me!"

He held my hand gently. SP//dr scuttled across my fingers and onto his arm.

"I wanted to wait for the perfect time," he said, looking down at me, "but I suppose now is as good as ever."

The trees on the path began to thin, and one of the park's many man-made lakes came into view. It sparkled in the hazy sunlight.

"So," Dad began, "last night I decided to let SP//dr bond with me."

"Bond with you…? Like, _bond_ bond with you?"

"That's right. We're psychogenetically linked now."

"Wait, doesn't that mean-"

"Yes, I'll be piloting the mech."

"I thought you hated it."

"I never _hated_ it, I just didn't wanna _pilot_ it, but I changed my mind."

"What changed your mind?"

With a little smile, he squeezed my hand softly and said "I remembered why I started building it in the first place."

I tried to decipher his cryptic reply but soon the sweet distraction of fresh donuts wafted by my nose and melted all other thoughts away.

"Can you smell that?" I asked.

"What, the flowers?"

"No, dummy, the _donuts_!"

"I can see them, actually."

"Where!?"

But then I saw it too, right on the edge of the lake. A cafe made of of glass, and outside it, a sign saying in big, bold letters, 'FRESH DONUTS'.

"I hope you have an appetite," Dad said.

"I always have room for sugar."

"I never doubted you."

"You ready?"

"Always."

* * *

Before we knew it our trip to the park had become an all-you-can-eat donut buffet.

"Have you tried the blueberry one?" I asked, stuffing a chocolate donut in my face.

"Mfghf whffg bbrggh." Dad replied, halfway through eating a donut coated in yellow icing.

"Well it's really good!"

He gave me a thumbs up. I picked another ring donut out of the basket of donuts we'd ordered. The icing was red and blue. I went to take a bite out of it, but then decided to have a swig of cola first. I grabbed the glass and put the straw between my lips, blowing some bubbles in the soda - because you always have to blow bubbles in your soda when they give you a straw. As I drank it I began idly spinning the donut round on my finger like a hula hoop. It was surprisingly easy to spin, though I almost let it fly off my hand completely at one point. Finally it was time to eat it. I dropped it into my other hand, flipped it over so the icing was on top, lifted it to my open mouth, and-

Dad was staring at me. Not at me but through me. His eyes were as glazed as the donuts.

"You okay Dad?"

He looked at me, this time for real, "I just had a brilliant idea."

"You did?"

"Your donut."

"My _donut_ …?"

"When you span it around, I realized. I… I need to write this down."

"What did you realize?"

"SP//dr, currently the body is fixed, but what if it could rotate?"

"When you say 'rotate'-"

"Like a soccer ball. Full rotation. A globe. I could have the arms be electromagnetically suspended. It'd need more energy but I can solve that later."

"Is full rotation that big of a deal?"

"It could more than double the mech's land speed."

"Wow."

He tore a bunch of napkins out of the napkin holder, "Damn it, I don't have a pen. Can I borrow your phone?"

"Why _my_ phone?"

"It has a bigger screen and you have that drawing app."

"It's a pretty basic app, Dad."

"It'll do."

I handed him my phone and he started scribbling in designs. I leaned over the table and watched as he drew up a rounder, more streamlined version of the mech I'd seen in Oscorp's lab. He switched rapidly between the drawing app and my phone's graphic calculator.

"Yes, that could work," he mumbled to himself.

"Can I help?"

"No sweetheart, this is very complicated."

I pouted, "I'm not stupid, you know!"

"Just a minute."

"You're doing it all wrong, anyway."

"I know what I'm doing, Peni."

"No you don't, you hit the cosine button rather than the sine button and now your equation is all wrong."

He paused, "Don't confuse me. I definitely hit sine, and besides which, how do you know about that equation?"

"I've read your mechanics books."

"You have?"

"Yeah, I even drew little doodles in them for you in case you ever re-read them. I guess you never did."

That made him pause. He was surprised, that much was obvious, but it was more than that. For a moment he almost looked sad, but then something lit up in his eyes, like he was seeing me for the first time.

"Of course," he said with a smile, "of course you've read them."

SP//dr crawled across the table and onto my shoulder.

"Do you know about Lorentz transformations?" Dad asked.

"Sorta."

"Then maybe you can help me figure out how to get these electromagnetic arms to stay in sync with the body."

"I already have an idea for that, actually."

He raised his eyebrows, "You do?"

"Come sit next to me and I'll draw it for you."

He moved over to my side of the table and I began to explain my ideas to him. He listened quietly, occasionally interrupting me to suggest an improvement or explain a concept I'd misunderstood. My ideas weren't perfect, some were terrible, but some of them were things he hadn't even thought of.

"I need to write all this down," he said, "properly write it down, at home."

"Can I watch?"

He pulled me in for a hug, "You can _help_."

* * *

We hurried home - over the entry bridge, which had already been fixed as if nothing happened, back through the city, through the many buildings that lined our long and winding route. All the way, we chatted about the mech, how we'd carry out the improvements, all the things it was gonna be able to do.

"-and you've gotta make SP//dr's cockpit bigger Dad - he's a pilot too, you know!"

He laughed, "You're probably right."

We started across the last bridge back to Ingram Mansions. The sun was at its peak, and the mist had almost dissipated from the streets below. I could feel the sweat rolling down my neck. Another hot day. The air conditioned halls of our skyscraper couldn't come soon enough.

"I wish we lived in one of those cool off-world colonies," I grumbled as the elevator took us down to floor twenty.

"No you don't," Dad replied, "I hear the internet speeds are terrible."

Out of the elevator and into the wall of heat on the north side balcony. Even my comfiest dress was no match for the humidity of New York's winter. When Dad opened the front door to our apartment I almost fell into it in my rush to get inside and turn the air conditioning on.

"-hottest winter in ten years!" the TV buzzed, "So get your sunscreen out because this heat wave shows no signs of-"

Dad switched it off and hurried into his bedroom/office. I flopped down onto the couch, resisting the urge to tear off my sweat-drenched clothes. SP//dr didn't seem too bothered - he happily scurried about on my forearm. I felt the air con switch on and breathed a sigh of relief. From the other room came the sound of Dad tapping away at his special touchscreen desk.

"Dad?"

He didn't reply. I ripped myself off of the couch and wandered into his office. He'd already started writing down his plans for the SP//dr mech.

"You said I could help!" I complained.

"Sorry sweetheart, I needed to get this down before I forgot. Pull up a chair."

His room had two chairs: one for him, and one for Mom. Currently an old plushy of mine, a big, fluffy lion, was sitting on Mom's chair. I picked him up and carefully put him on Dad's bed, making sure his head was resting comfortably on the pillow. Then I pulled the now empty chair up side-by-side with Dad's and watched as he scribbled notes and designs into the huge tablet built into his desk. The excitement from my visit to Oscorp came back, welling up inside my chest, tingling in my muscles. As his pen darted across the screen I started to feel light headed. I saw the mech soaring through the air, rolling across all terrain, fighting giant monsters and war machines and evil masterminds with zombie armies. Except it wasn't just a fantasy; it was _real_. It was real, and I was a part of it.

We worked on it all day, and when we weren't working on it we were talking about it, and when we weren't talking about it I was thinking about it. We nearly forgot to eat dinner but Dad's stomach was growling so much I had to bring it up.

"I think it's time for pizza."

"Again?" he asked.

"You mean you don't want pizza?"

"I never said that."

The pizza was delicious, and as soon as we were done we both got up and went straight over to his room. But as we got to the door he stopped and said, "Actually, it can wait."

I stared up at him, perplexed, "Why? I still have lots and lots of ideas!"

He ruffled my hair, "I know you do. But there'll be plenty of time to do work stuff during the week, don't you think?"

"Aren't you having fun?"

"I'm having more fun than I've had in years."

"Then let's go!" I said, pushing the door open and charging into his room.

He didn't follow me, "Let's watch a movie or something."

My heart sunk, "Why can't we work on SP//dr? Did I do something wrong?"

"Not at all, sweetheart. It's just…" he walked over and placed his hands on my shoulders, "now that I'm SP//dr's pilot… once we get it working, I'm gonna be very busy, even busier than before, maybe. Tinkering with the mech is gonna take up all my free time."

"But we'll be doing it together, right?"

"When I'm home."

"And at the lab?"

"What about your new school?"

"The school's at Oscorp!"

"I know, but-"

"I thought you said we could work together…"

"We can. Of course we can," he said, but he didn't look so sure.

"Dad, you promised."

He kissed my cheek, "And I'll keep that promise."

I pouted.

"We have forever to work on the mech together," he continued, "this weekend we're totally free. We can do anything we want! Let's make the most of it."

I could feel my resistance melting, "I _suppose_ we could watch a movie… as long as it's a cool movie."

"I'm pretty sure they're streaming that black hole movie right now."

"Event Horizon 3K!?"

"Oh you've heard of it?"

"Can we watch it!?" I squealed, unable to contain my excitement.

He smirked "Well only if you _want_ to…"

I crossed my arms, "Don't think this means I've let you off the hook."

"I wouldn't dare to make such an assumption."

"Do we have popcorn?"

"Somewhere, yes."

I sighed in mock resignation, "Okay, I guess we can watch a movie. For your sake."

The movie lasted two and a half hours. We watched it snuggled up together on the couch. By the time it was finished Dad was already half asleep.

"I can't believe you dozed off when _you're_ the one that suggested a movie!" I said as I shook him awake.

"Sorry, sweetheart," he grinned, "I guess all the excitement wore me out."

I patted his head, "You should get some sleep."

"That's my line."

"I'm not tired," I replied.

"Even so."

I poked his cheek, "There's no school tomorrow."

"It's already so late, Peni."

"Not really."

"Come on, go brush your teeth."

"You first."

"Alright, let's do it together."

So we squeezed into our tiny bathroom and, shoulder to shoulder, brushed our teeth. I could just about see myself in the mirror over the top of the sink. When we were done, Dad chaperoned me to my bedroom and kissed me goodnight. Then he closed the door, taking SP//dr with him. I got into bed, pulled up the covers, and grabbed my phone.

I had no intention of sleeping.

"I think this is right…" I mumbled to myself as I tried to recreate the designs in Dad's room from memory. I couldn't get anywhere near the level of detail I needed on my phone screen - Dad's tablet was the size of an entire _desk_.

I traced the images in my mind, but they remained blurry. I'd heard stories of people playing chess entirely in their heads, and I _knew_ I was smarter than they were, so why couldn't I picture a stupid schematic?

I thumped my bed with my fist in frustration. I wasn't tired. I was nowhere _near_ tired. I wanted to work on the mech with dad. I _needed_ it.

The house was quiet. Dad was in his room. If he was awake, he'd complain if I came into his room to use his tablet. But if he was asleep, however…

I rolled out of bed and slowly eased my bedroom door open. I peeked down the hall. All the lights were off. Everything was bathed in a dim, dull blue filtering in from the kitchen window. There was no such thing as total darkness in the city. I took one step out of my room, then another, silent on the soft carpet. He was probably still awake, but I could wait. If I listened I'd be able to tell. After all, my dad was a snorer.

I crept up to his door and put my ear against it. No snoring. I was gonna have to wait. I looked around; the couch was a black blob in the shadows. I fumbled over to it and sat down.

Suddenly the TV switched itself on. Blindingly bright in the darkness.

"They're calling him the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, and I have to say-"

The remote wasn't on the couch. It wasn't on the floor. It wasn't near the games consoles.

"-if bustin' heads is what keeps our streets clean, I'm all for it!"

Squinting, I checked the breakfast table. It wasn't there either.

_Where is it?_

"You can say that again Barney!"

The TV audience broke into applause. I needed to turn it off before Dad came out to do it himself.

_Stupid TV. Why do they design them to turn on automatically anyway!?_

Then I found it. On the kitchen worktop. I snatched it up and smashed my finger into the off button. The room was plunged into darkness once again. The only sound was that of my heavy breathing. I shuffled back to the couch as quickly as I could and curled up into a ball, in case Dad opened his door to see what was going on.

He didn't. I didn't even hear him moving about in his room. What I _did_ hear was the unmistakable growl of his loud snoring. Finally, he was asleep.

With a grin on my face I snuck over to his door and gently eased it open. It was even darker than the rest of the apartment. I couldn't see a thing. I lit my phone screen up and used its pale, synthetic light to creep over to his desk. Everything was where we'd left it. I just needed to turn it on, then I could go to work. The switch was by my Dad's bed. His face was turned towards me, his mouth open just a little as he steadily snored into his pillow. Sitting on his forehead was SP//dr.

_I wonder if he's asleep too._

I slowly stretched my hand over the desk, towards the switch. As my finger touched the plastic, SP//dr twitched on my Dad's head. I froze. With my other hand I clicked my phone's light off. Now neither of us could see anything - or at least I hoped that was the case. I had no idea if SP//dr could see in the dark or not. I started to doubt the sanity of my plan, but the excitement and adrenaline drove me forward, and I flipped the desk tablet's switch. Immediately it lit up with a soft cyan glow. On the screen were all our plans and designs for the mech. I picked up the stylus lying on the desk.

"Okay…" I whispered.

Then I felt something tickle my arm. I recoiled in shock. The chair started to tip backwards. I put my foot down and rebalanced myself just in time to stop it collapsing to the floor and ruining my plan. I sighed in relief. Dad was still asleep.

_Thank god…_

Then I looked at the desk. There in front of me was SP//dr.

"Did I wake you up?" I whispered as he climbed onto my free hand. I brought him to my lips and gave him a tiny kiss. He nibbled at my cheek in return.

I smiled, "Wanna help me fix up your mech?"

With the stylus in my right hand I began to draw. I swiped through the many pages we'd filled with designs and convoluted equations, thinking of a way to bring all the best bits of each design together in one, cohesive mech. I kept it round, spherical, with floating arms just like Dad said. I brainstormed different materials to use for the glass screen in front of the cockpit. It needed to be blast proof but crystal clear, too. When I'd dealt with that I moved on to the body, the limbs, weaponry. It felt strange to design a real weapon, but I reminded myself that they were only gonna be used on bad guys. With that in mind I let my imagination run wild. Sonic saws and condensed light beams, gravity bombs and concealed rocket launchers - you name it, I tried it. I must've spent hours toying with different ideas, and still there were so many I hadn't even sketched out. I could feel my eyes drooping. Then SP//dr crawled onto the tablet's screen.

"You gotta move, SP//dr, or else I won't be able to draw."

But he refused to shift himself. For some reason he kept pacing back and forth on a particular equation. Dad hadn't been able to solve it earlier, and I didn't even know where to begin with solving it.

"C'mon, what are you doing? I'm tryna draw," I slurred, exhaustion setting in.

I slumped forward and poked the equation with my stylus, "I can't solve this," I mumbled, "just, c'mon, go back to bed so I can…"

I blinked. SP//dr wasn't on the equation anymore, but it looked different somehow. Smaller. Neater. I could almost make sense of it.

_I need soda._

There was so no way I was gonna stay awake without sugar. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. I blinked again and the tablet screen was off. Dad's snoring drifted into my consciousness from far, far away.

"SP//dr… turn the tablet back on…"

I felt my eight-legged friend settle on my hand. The tablet stayed dark.

"Fine..." I mumbled, "but tomorrow... first thing tomorrow..."

I closed my eyes, and, finally, fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love that the Spider-Verse movie made Peni and SP//dr such great friends, and I love writing them together! This chapter was a little more chill than the last two, but next chapter we're back into the action again ;) I look forward to sharing it with you when it's done!


	4. Smoke On The Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After spending all weekend having fun doing science together, Peni and her Dad return to Oscorp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry this one took so long! It went through a lot of re-writing, and I had a week where I couldn't do any writing as well, which slowed everything down. In the end though I'm pleased with it :) next one should be a bit shorter and thus out a bit faster too! Thanks for reading and thank you for the kudos and comments too :) Every single one makes my day <3

I woke up with a stiff neck.

"Peni? What're you doing here?"

Dad's voice. I lifted my head. I was at his desk, a puddle of drool dribbling down the tablet from where my cheek had been resting. Suddenly I remembered.

"Ah," I began, pushing through the brain fog, "I, I had some ideas… wanted to do more work on the mech."

He stroked my hair, "I told you to go to bed, silly."

I rubbed my eyes. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, giving me his 'concerned' look.

"I'm fine," I said, "I made lots of improvements to the design. You can totally have those rocket launchers now."

He laughed, "Well thanks for that, sweetheart."

"I'm gonna get to see it in action, right?"

"In the lab, definitely."

"What about outside the lab?"

"That's all down to Mr. Osborn. Anyway, let's get some breakfast," he turned on his phone, "…or should I say, lunch."

"It's that late?"

It was 12pm. We didn't let that stop us though. We stuffed our faces with cereal and Dad downed all my leftover milk just the same as always. Dad called Mr. Osborn's PA to let him know that I'd be changing schools, I (reluctantly) washed my hair, then we went into Dad's office and got back to work on the mech.

He looked perplexed as he turned on his huge tablet.

"Did you do this?" he asked, a zooming in on a mess of equations scribbled in the top right corner.

"What do you mean? You wrote those, didn't you?"

"No, this one right here," he pointed at the equation we hadn't been able to solve last night. I knew it had something to do with synchronization rates, but otherwise the math was completely beyond me.

"See how it all adds up now?" he continued, "We were nowhere near that before. I've been struggling with it for _months_. Now that it's solved… well, it opens up whole new possibilities for the mech. SP//dr and I could achieve perfect synchronization. We'd be like one person, at least psychologically."

I stared at the complex string of numbers and symbols on the screen in front of me, "I don't even know what I'm looking at."

He gave me a puzzled look, "Are you _sure_ you didn't do it? Maybe you just forgot?"

"Dad, I'm serious. It wasn't me."

"Well it definitely wasn't me."

SP//dr scuttled across the tablet and started spinning a web between the desk and the wall. Dad and I both looked at each other, wide-eyed.

"You don't think-…?" he began.

"Well, he _is_ smart," I said.

Dad tapped his stylus against his chin, "That changes things."

We worked on the mech throughout the day, taking breaks to eat and play more Mariokart (I won every game apart from one where a blue shell rained on my parade), till eventually it was time to sleep.

"Goodnight sweetheart," Dad said as he tucked me into bed.

"Goodnight."

He walked towards my bedroom door.

"Actually, Dad," I called out, "can SP//dr sleep with me tonight?"

He looked at SP//dr, who was sitting on his hand, "I don't see why not."

Dad brought him over and let him settle on my desk, "There you go."

"Thanks."

He kissed me again, "Sleep well, sweetheart."

"Do I really _have_ to sleep now?"

"Yes," he laughed, "you've got school tomorrow, and I've got work."

_Work._

I frowned, "I'll get to stay with you after school, right? Uncle Ben won't take me back here, will he?"

He stroked my hair, "I'll make sure you get to visit me after classes."

"And the weekends?"

"What about them?"

"Will you stay at home like you did this time, or will Mr. Osborn call you in like he normally does?"

"Well I'm a pilot now, I don't know how busy I'll be."

"But I can be with you, right?"

"Peni-"

"This has been the best weekend ever, Dad. Don't you think so too?"

"Of course. I've loved every minute of it."

"So can't you stay with me? Can't you talk to Mr. Osborn? I know your job is important but-"

"I don't know where the SP//dr project is gonna go, Peni, and I don't know how much time I'll spend at work. But I promise that no matter what happens, I won't ever leave you on your own ever again."

"Ever?"

"Ever. SP//dr wouldn't forgive me if I kept him away from you," he winked.

I smiled, " _I_ wouldn't forgive you either."

"Would you blow me up?"

"With rocket launchers."

"I'd expect no less. Now, go to sleep, okay? We've got an early start tomorrow."

"Okay."

Then he walked into the hall and pulled my door almost closed, so that only a tiny sliver of light slipped through into my room. SP//dr crawled onto my forehead.

"You like people's heads, huh?" I mumbled, "I could make you your own bed, you know? Would you like that?"

He climbed into my messy hair and out of my line of sight.

"You silly spider."

Then, before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

* * *

BZZT BZZT BZZT BZZT BZZ-

Suddenly something heavy smacked right onto my nose.

"Agh!"

I jolted upright, clutching my face.

"What the heck!?"

It was my phone. The screen lit up with an image of a vibrating analogue alarm clock. It wasn't an alarm I set.

"Rise and shine sweetheart!" Dad called out from down the hall.

"Did you mess with my phone?" I growled back.

"Just a little bit!"

I looked around for SP//dr. He was resting on a web he'd made just above my bed, in the corner of the room.

"You awake, SP?/dr?" I asked him. No sooner had I spoken those words than he scuttled down onto the bed and up my arm. That answered that question.

At the breakfast table my bowl was already full of cereal.

"Gotta leave extra early today," Dad said as he darted back and forth from cupboard to cupboard, "I got a call from the lab. They wanna do a sync test. Those things take forever at the best of times, but thanks to SP//dr solving that equation for us I now need to tweak the mech before we even _do_ the test, and that's not gonna be quick. Is your school stuff ready?"

"I _have_ school stuff…?"

"Oh yeah, right, of course not! New school. We'll deal with it when we get there. Just take your backpack today. It's fine. Ignore me."

He thumped the milk onto the table absent mindedly and started rifling through drawers for cutlery. I poured the milk into my bowl, letting it cascade down the mountain of chocolate UFOs.

"Here's your spoon, Peni," he said as he held the utensil in front of my face.

"Thanks."

SP//dr sat on my shoulder while I waited for the chocolate to filter into the milk. Dad, who was finally done whizzing about the kitchen, pulled up a chair across from me and picked up the milk carton.

"Gonna be a big day," he said, half to himself, "if this works… can you imagine it? Perfect synchronization. Two minds perfectly fused together - temporarily at least. No one's ever achieved it before, not even between AIs."

Finally my milk had gone chocolatey and it was time to eat, "Does that mean you'd be able to speak to SP//dr?"

He held his chin in his hand, "Hm, that's a good question. I'd be able to communicate via emotions, maybe images, but I don't know about language. If this works, I guess I'll find out!"

"So you can't talk to SP//dr right now?"

He dipped his spoon into his cereal, "I sort of can. I can kind of just _know_ what SP//dr is feeling, but it's hard to interpret. How do I know whether a feeling is mine or SP//dr's? I suspect that with this new synchronization procedure, I _might_ be able to get better at understanding the information SP//dr is giving me. Maybe he'll understand _me_ better too."

I twirled the UFOs around in my bowl, "Would it work if I did it?"

"Hm?"

"If I did the sync thing, would I be able to communicate with SP//dr?"

He furrowed his brow, "Hmm… it's hard to say. It's primarily meant to amplify the connection of an existing psychogenetic bond, but it _is_ possible to achieve some synchronization _without_ a bond. Why do you ask? Is it something you want? You two get along so well already."

"I wanna talk to SP//dr, Dad. I wanna know what he's thinking. I want him to know what _I'm_ thinking."

He smiled, "I don't think you need me to help you with that."

I felt something tickling the little hairs on my arm. SP//dr was crawling down to get a taste of the chocolate lingering on my spoon.

"I _told_ you he liked milk, Dad!"

* * *

Unlike the time Mr. Osborn's assistant took me to Oscorp, where we went in via a secret entrance, Dad and I arrived right at the front gate. You could tell the architect had designed it to be imposing. The whole thing looked like an enormous knife cutting into the sky. The gate to the building's plaza was bordered by two huge obelisks, and the entry hatch for visiting vehicles coiled deep into the building in a vortex lined with pulsating blue lights.

"Wow."

"Yeah, Mr. Osborn likes to show off," Dad joked.

We parked up in a dim vault just past the entrance. The floor, walls _and_ ceiling were all clad in black metallic panels. Little white lights traced the edges of the room. A stark white sign with EMPLOYEES written on it in red stared at us from the distance.

Dad took my hand, "That's us."

I was nervous. This was the kind of life I'd always dreamed of, but now that it was right in front of me I wasn't so sure I was ready. I didn't even know if this new teacher would be any good. She might be mean. She might be _stupid_. I was gonna be on my own too, until the actual school was set up. That meant no Harry. Just me, the teacher, and Otto.

I took a deep breath and tried to relax. SP//dr stroked my cheek. Was he trying to reassure me? Could he tell how I was feeling even without being synced in the mech?

"Richard Parker," Dad told the guard at the door, "and this is my daughter."

He scanned Dad's retina, then let us through.

We walked down some hallways till we eventually reached the awful elevator I rode on last time.

"Not again…" I grumbled.

Dad laughed, "You'll get used to it eventually."

Then out of nowhere appeared Mr. Osborn himself, "Ah, Richard, Peni, perfect timing!"

The elevator doors opened and all three of us stepped in. As the doors closed Mr. Osborn looked us up and down, then asked,

"Where's the spider?"

Dad gave him a sheepish grin, "Currently in my daughter's hair."

"Her _what_?"

"I took him out of the case,"

"You… took it out of the case?"

"Well, it kinda happened by accident actually but… yes, he got out."

"I see…"

"And… I let him bite me and well, things just evolved from there," Dad explained, "But I assure you, he's quite harmless now that he and I are bonded."

Mr. Osborn's mouth was somewhere between a grin and a wide 'O', "My, my, you actually did it! I'd almost written you off. Aren't you glad I gave you the insect for the weekend?"

_Arachnid_ , I thought to myself as the elevator sent my stomach reeling.

"So I take it you're all ready for this morning's sync test then?" he continued.

"Actually," my dad replied, "I'd like to push it back till this afternoon, if we can."

"Not possible. The bionics guys need the equipment this afternoon and I can't just change the timetable on a whim."

Just as he said those words the elevator came to a sudden halt on B03.

"Mr. Osborn, I believe I can dramatically improve the mech's sync rate. We might even be able to approach 99% synchronization."

The doors whooshed open. The green entrance to the Experimental Science Division stood before us. I felt SP//dr crawl onto my shoulder.

"99% eh? What makes you so sure? This time last week you told me we'd never push past seventy."

"I solved the problem. I just need to test that my solution works."

"That's what simulations are for."

We walked through the enormous gates into the even more enormous experimental science labs. Still holding Dad's hand I tilted my head back to look up at the distant ceiling. Little drones flitted back and forth between all the machines being built around us. Somehow I'd missed those on my first visit.

I tugged on my dad's arm, "Is this where they're gonna teach me?"

He looked over to his boss, "Where _is_ her classroom, Mr. Osborn?"

"On B02. I thought you'd brought her down here for the sync test."

"What? Why would I-"

"No matter, I'll have Otto take her to class now. Otto!"

One of the drones zipped down to greet us, "Sir?"

"Take Miss Parker to her classroom. Anna should already be there - if she isn't, tell her to hurry up."

"Understood."

The drone flew away and Mr. Osborn continued walking into the lab. Dad and I stayed where we were.

"How about _I_ take her?" Dad said, "She might get lost."

At that moment a voice from behind us said, "No need to worry Mr. Parker, I'll see that she arrives safely."

I turned around. A tall grey android with glowing yellow eyes stood before me. He clearly wasn't designed to look human, as his expressionless face didn't even have a mouth. It was as if someone had animated a suit of medieval armor. I couldn't stop myself from saying,

"Wow… _you're_ Otto?"

He didn't blink, "I am the eighth core of the Octavius system."

"What…?"

"Excellent!" Mr. Osborn interrupted, "Now that's sorted - Richard, shall we?"

He clapped my dad on the back and started walking him away.

"Have a nice time in class, sweetheart!" Dad called out with a wave.

"I will!" I called back. Suddenly I realized SP//dr wasn't on my shoulder anymore. I checked my hair and he wasn't there either.

"The spider is with your father, if that's what you're wondering," Otto said flatly.

"I didn't notice him leave."

"I'm designed to be observant. Now, your class is in room B2-3385-X, on floor B02. If you'd like to come with me…"

* * *

"Can we take the stairs?" I asked as we left the experimental science lab.

"There are one thousand and four individual steps between here and floor B02," he informed me, "according to my estimations you'd succumb to fatigue before the three-hundredth step."

"I'll take that as a 'no' then."

"I can carry you, but we'll be late for class."

"You'd _carry_ me up the stairs?"

"This body can lift up to eight tonnes, unaugmented."

"Nice."

"However, we'll still be taking the elevator."

"Oh come onnnnnnnnnnn."

* * *

My stomach was grateful that the journey between B03 and B02 was a short one. Both the floors looked pretty much the same, except B02 didn't have a huge green door right in front of the elevator.

"This way," Otto said, motioning to the right.

The hallway was completely devoid of people apart from us. It was also devoid of sound. The rustle of my backpack against my shirt was the only thing that could be heard as we walked towards the classroom.

"I didn't realize you were an android," I said.

"What made you think I was human?"

"I guess I just didn't think about it."

"That's exactly why I'm _not_ human. Human beings get lazy, fatigued, and make mistakes. Machines are perfect."

"Are you calling me lazy?"

"I'm pointing out the facts."

We turned a corner. The hall continued into infinity, door after door after identical door.

_I hope I don't have to make my own way back._

"So you're an android…" I continued, "but you spoke to us through that drone earlier. So do you like, work in a control room or something?"

"I'm not an android."

"But you said-"

"I said I wasn't human. I did _not_ say I was an android."

"Jeez you're pedantic."

"I'm an artificial intelligence, one of eight."

"One of _eight_?"

"Eight cores, each managing different regions of the building. We have full access to all the machinery at Oscorp, so that's why I could pilot the drone."

"Wow. So which core are you?"

"I already told you."

"No you didn't."

"I told you before. I'm the eighth core."

"Oh yeah… So it's like, combined you form a super powerful computer?"

"We don't communicate."

"What!? Why? Don't you get along?"

"The system is designed to prevent communication."

"That seems weird to me. Surely you'd be waaaaay smarter if they used all the cores together."

He didn't reply to that. We walked on a bit further in silence till eventually we reached a set of red double doors.

"Here we are," he said, "B2-3385-X. I shall now return this body to its normal duty."

I frowned, "You aren't gonna teach me?"

"You have a perfectly fine teacher already. Now, knock on the door."

I gave the door a couple of light knocks. Suddenly I was nervous; I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I brushed down my old school skirt. Dad said I didn't need a new uniform but was it really okay to wear another school's uniform to my new class?

I looked over my shoulder, "Can't you stay for a bit?" I asked, but Otto was already gone. I didn't even hear him leave.

Then the doors swung open. On the other side of them was a woman who was only very slightly taller than I was.

"Peni Parker, I presume?"

"Are you… my teacher?"

Her lab coat was so big for her that it almost dragged across the floor.

"I see you've noticed that I'm short," she said bluntly.

I felt my cheeks go red hot, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Don't sweat it," she said, waving dismissively, "everyone has that reaction."

She turned and walked into the classroom. I took one step through the door and peeked inside. It didn't look anything like the classrooms back at my old school. In fact it didn't look like a classroom at all. Sure, there were some desks and chairs, but most of the room was taken up with weird lab equipment and machines I'd never seen before in my life. The only gizmo I recognized was the one at the very front of the room: a human-machine interfacing helmet - basically VR but with extra bells and whistles.

"You gonna come in or are you just here to admire the view?"

The teacher stared at me from across the room. She had such fierce eyes.

"Sorry."

"Don't be."

"But-"

"My sense of humor's terrible. Drives Otto up the wall. You'll get used to it eventually. That or you'll kill me out of sheer frustration. Ah! My manners-"

She came over and extended her hand, "The name's Anna Maria Marconi, but you can just call me Anna."

I shook her hand, "Just Anna?"

"That's what my friends call me."

She pulled out a chair at one of the desks.

"Sit. Then I'll talk you through how we're gonna run this thing."

I took the seat and she strode over to the front of the room. Unlike my old school, this place _did_ have a VR 'whiteboard'. At the press of a few buttons a projector sphere in the ceiling sent the whole room into darkness. Without even needing a headset, the room itself had become one huge blank canvas. It was my first time seeing one in action, and it was just as cool as I'd imagined.

_Maybe this_ **was** _a good idea after all._

"I'm gonna teach you everything I know," Anna said, as a diagram showing the six flavors of quarks appeared in front of my desk, "I don't know much about Shakespeare though so you're out of luck there."

"I don't even know who Shakespeare is."

She laughed at that, "In that case I think we're gonna get along just fine. Now, where should I start?"

I was so used to ignoring teachers it took all the concentration I had to follow Anna's lesson, which rapidly covered all the fundamentals of higher-level chemistry. Within an hour she'd already moved on to topics I'd never even heard of.

I held my hand up, "Anna!"

"Yes?" she said, pausing in the middle of drawing an equation.

"What _is_ the Kohn-Sham method?"

She gave me a serious look, "I've gone too fast, haven't I?"

"No, it's not that."

"I don't normally teach kids. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm actually really enjoying this-"

"Me too!"

"-but I tend to get overexcited."

"Don't worry, I understood most of it."

"Nice, so I didn't totally fail."

"Is every day gonna be chemistry?"

"Good question."

_Wait… you mean she didn't plan the lesson schedule out?_

"What would you _like_ to learn?"

I replied without hesitation, "I wanna make robots!"

"Robots, huh?" she said with a grin, "Well you've come to the right person, kid."

"I have?"

"Didn't they tell you? I made Otto. All eight of his cores are my invention. Now, if you ask _me_ , I think they should let the eight cores share resources, but it can't be helped."

"I told Otto the same thing!"

She winked, "Great minds."

I was starting to realize that Anna wasn't nearly as scary as she came across.

"Okay Peni," she continued, "I'm gonna be honest, coming into this I didn't have a plan. Like, at all. I mean, they called me yesterday and told me to get ready to give a private lecture to some kid I'd never met - no offense."

"None taken."

"And I was like okay, I can do that, anything you say sir. You know, Mr. Osborn doesn't like to be disappointed and all that."

"Yeah."

"But if you just want robotics. Well, I know exactly how to do that. I was taught by the best. Ever heard of Phineas Mason?"

"No…"

"Yeah, most people haven't. The man's a genius. When I was his student he was building these bionic performance enhancing suits for deep space astronauts. It blew my mind. Then one day he just disappeared! Been missing for years now."

"That's crazy."

"Right? He was a great teacher though. Very patient. Wrote a book too. I think I have it somewhere…"

"I'd love to read it!"

"Oh I'll give it to you, don't you worry about that. Actually I wanna teach you with it. It's got a good structure. I need to make a plan though - obviously can't do that today. Hmm… is there anything else you wanna learn? I can do more chemistry if you want."

I felt my mouth go dry, "Well, I… I mean, I was kinda hoping… I mean if it's okay, I was kinda hoping to do something with Otto. Mr. Osborn said we could maybe make stuff together."

"Of course! That's good thinking, Peni. You can use the human-machine interface and I'll show you how Otto works. It's kinda complicated but I can teach you some of it."

She started adjusting the settings on the interface, "Would you believe I used to be a chef?"

"Really?" I asked, as I walked over to join her.

"My parents run a little restaurant in Brooklyn. It's small, you know, a family business. I worked there. I mean I always liked cooking, even as a kid. My mom taught me. I've been cooking my whole life. It's in my veins."

She plugged some wires into the helmet and inspected the little suction cups that went on the user's head, "I think that's what me got me into science in the first place. Cooking is just chemistry, really, but tastier. You can plan it all out to the tiniest detail if you want to. It's a perfect combination of method," she flipped a switch and the helmet began to glow with energy, "and instinct."

The sight of the helmet all lit up made me dizzy with excitement. Machine-human interfacing… it was something reserved for people on TV or in science books, not for me. Yet there I was.

Anna tapped the helmet with her hand, "Alright Peni, you're up."

"It's safe, right?"

She smirked, "What, getting cold feet already?"

"It's my first time."

"It's completely harmless. I use it every day."

I gulped and stepped forward. One of the desk chairs was placed beneath the helmet. I sat down, then Anna carefully stuck the suction cups to my head.

"I apologize in advance for how messy your hair is gonna look after this," she joked.

I laughed nervously, releasing some of tension in my chest. I could feel the shakes trying to work their way out of my arms and legs.

"Okay Peni," she said as she finally lowered the helmet onto my head, "get ready to experience Otto Vision."

_Otto vision?_

Then it hit me, knocking the breath out of me, like being dunked into a vat of ice cold water. I could feel my thoughts morphing, shifting around me as if they occupied physical space. I opened my eyes but all I could see was darkness. I started to panic.

"Hello again," came a voice into my head. It was so close, so loud between my ears, behind my eyes.

"Who is this?"

"This is Otto. You're currently inside one of my cores, specifically the eighth core."

"How are you speaking to me?"

"I'm stimulating your auditory cortex to imagine that it's hearing my voice."

"You're inside my _brain_!?"

"The interface doesn't allow me to stimulate your cochlea, so this is the only way to communicate."

I felt like I was running out of air.

"I can't breathe!"

"You're hyperventilating."

"Make it stop!"

"Remain calm. You are in no danger here, Peni. You're still alive, your senses still function - all I've done is allow them to rest so that you don't get overstimulated."

I took a deep breath. Then another.

"Good," he said, "you'll get used to it soon enough."

"Where's Anna?"

"Right beside you. As I said, I've dulled your senses."

"She said she was gonna show me how you work."

"That's correct. However, I decided it'd be simpler if I showed you myself."

"Does Anna know?"

"Not yet."

Suddenly I felt myself drop down. Out of the darkness appeared a tall, grey pillar. The edges were sharp, and glinted in the light. I couldn't see the light itself - I just knew in my mind that it was there.

"This is my core," he explained.

"It looks big."

"It's about twice your height. My core alone can achieve one hundred and twenty quintillion floating point operations per second. My understanding is the other cores are similar."

"That's a lot of floating point operations."

"Merely one eighth of my true potential. With all the cores combined I could achieve a septillion floating point operations per second."

"But not an octillion?"

"No, not immediately, anyway."

The core faded into the shadows, replaced instead by an image of my classroom.

"Wait, that's-"

"Yes, that's you."

I saw myself sitting in the chair with the helmet on, alone.

"Why isn't Anna there?"

"I told her to go take a break."

"But doesn't she need to be there in case something goes wrong?"

"What do you think _I_ was designed for?"

We zoomed in so I could get a closer look at my limp body. I looked like I was sleeping.

"This is weird, Otto."

"What, having your body separated from your mind?"

"It doesn't feel right."

"Yet you look at yourself in the mirror every day and don't think twice about it."

"That's not the same."

"So you say. I would argue that it is merely that your mind is not accustomed to realities outside of the one you're comfortable with."

"I mean, I guess?"

"I suppose if you woke up tomorrow in Anna's body you would find that strange also."

"Of course I would! We're completely different people!"

"Everything important about who you are exists in your mind."

"What?"

"Does your personality exist in your kidney, or your stomach? No, it's in the brain, and the brain is just an organic computer. Attachment to the body is a uniquely human trait. To a human being the body is absolute. You believe that it is immutable, unchangeable. For me, bodies are mere vessels for my mind. A body is a tool, nothing more."

"Can we look at something else now? Please?"

"As you wish."

Shades of grey and green pooled around my feet. Then the colors became populated by little black dots scurrying back and forth. As the image finally became clear I realized what I was seeing.

"The experimental science lab?"

"All the most important work I do is centered on this department. I manage every aspect of this laboratory. I keep the temperature stable, monitor all the experiments, and conduct all the tests, as well. Speaking of which, your father was scheduled to perform a sync test earlier… but it was canceled. Seems like Osborn let him make those improvements he was talking about."

"You heard them talking about that?"

"One of my drones overheard it."

"Is there anything you _don't_ know about the lab?"

"I'm bonded with it, much like your father is bonded with SP//dr. If there's something I don't know, then quite simply it's not worth knowing."

"Except my dad's not a supercomputer."

"Psychogenetic bonding is probably the only way humans can ever come close to the processing power of a supercomputer."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when I said that my cores could achieve far greater floating point operations per second if they were combined? It's the same with organic brains. If you wire them up correctly you can achieve truly incredible things. But humans beings are very attached to their brains, so it's hard to come by specimens for testing."

"We _would_ die without them."

"Not necessarily."

Suddenly the falling feeling came back.

"Otto, what's-"

"It seems Anna has returned."

The darkness rushed past me and the bright white of my classroom flooded my vision. I held my hands up in front of my eyes. My arms felt weird and tingly, and my butt ached.

"Did you have fun?" Anna asked.

I slowly lowered my arms. Anna was crunching away on what looked like some kind of toast.

"Bruschetta," she said.

"How did you-"

"Know? I read your eyes. I leave the mind reading to Otto. Here," she offered me one. It had tomatoes and some kind of oil on it.

"Has it got meat on it?" I asked, "I've kinda been thinking of going vegetarian."

"Vegetarian at _eight_? Man, you really _are_ precocious."

I waited for her to answer my question. With her free hand she picked up another slice from a plate sitting on a nearby desk and stuffed it in her mouth, "They're all just tomatoes and olive oil, kid. Knock yourself out."

I took the bruschetta she was offering. It looked like a very messy pizza, but without the cheese. The taste, however…

"This is amazing!" I said through a mouth full of tomato, "Is it really just tomatoes and olive oil?"

"And some seasoning. I told you, I used to be a chef."

You could tell.

"You sure made these quickly," I noted.

"I diced the tomatoes earlier. Still took me half an hour though. I'm getting sloppy."

"Half an hour? Was I with Otto for that long?"

"Longer," she said, eating another slice of bruschetta, "your sense of time goes out of whack when you use that thing."

I froze, "Have I missed SP//dr's sync test?"

She looked at me like I'd just said the Earth is flat, "Why would you need to see SP//dr's sync test? Your dad's the pilot, right?"

"I know, but… we worked on it together, so I thought…"

Her expression softened, "I get it. You wanna see your toy in action. I know the feeling, kid."

She finished off her slice of bruschetta then called out, "Alright slick, lesson's over for now, take the kid down to see her dad."

Otto's voice resonated from the walls, "I'm on my way."

"Slick?" I asked.

She smiled, "Just a pet name. You might not believe it, but Otto's a real charmer when he wants to be. Probably the smoothest AI I've ever met."

I found that hard to imagine, but I took her word for it. A few seconds later and there was a knock at the classroom door.

"That'll be him," Anna said, "I'll wait in my office till you're done. I've got a mountain of e-mails to send and zero desire to send them, so don't take too long."

I laughed, "I'll try my best."

I went out into the hall. Otto was a different robot this time: short, round, like a vacuum cleaner.

"Otto, are you-"

"This was the most time efficient choice."

He didn't sound like he wanted to answer any more questions about his choice of body, so I kept my mouth shut as he led me back to the elevator. The elevator went down, my stomach went up, I squatted and clutched my knees, then the doors re-opened on B03.

"Is it in the experimental science lab?" I asked as I stepped woozily into the hallway.

"No, we avoid the experimental science lab entirely. Follow me."

He took a left. I followed close behind. It felt weird to follow a vacuum cleaner, but then the whole day had been crazy right from the get-go. One thing was certain: this was much, _much_ better than being stuck at my old school.

_I hope Harry's okay. I should message him._

I swung my backpack off of my shoulders and rummaged around in it for my phone.

'hey harry!' I typed, listening to Otto whir away in front of me, 'wassup? school okay? i'm at oscorp now. your dad says he's moving you too? don't let the other kids give you any crap while i'm gone!'

"Ugh," I grumbled, "That doesn't sound right"

Suddenly my foot connected with something hard. I fell forward.

"Peni, what are you-!?" Otto fizzed.

I'd walked straight into him and now I was falling straight onto the floor. I stretched my arms out. My palms hit the smooth concrete. I rolled once, twice, head over heels, till finally my butt smacked into a wall and I stopped.

"Ow…"

Then I heard a voice I wasn't expecting.

"Peni…?"

"Dad!?"

Mr. Osborn was right behind him, "Spectacular timing yet again, Miss Parker. We were just about to perform SP//dr's sync test. You can join us."

Dad helped me to my feet, "Why aren't you in class?"

"I wanted to see you. Anna said it would be okay."

"And she was right," said Mr. Osborn, "after all, you helped design the modifications, did you not? Your father told me on the way here."

I blushed, "Yeah, I helped Dad over the weekend."

"Your passion for science is admirable. Now," he looked at his watch, "let's hurry up and gets this test underway."

* * *

I watched through a window the size of a house as Dad climbed into the mech. The testing room beyond the window was just one huge, empty box.

"Do you do this every day?" I asked Mr. Osborn.

He laughed, "If we did this every day we'd never get any work done. No, for SP//dr we've only done it twice before."

"What else do you use sync tests for?"

"We've tried it on stag beetles, ants, worms, cockroaches, hornets and even toadstool mushrooms."

"You did this with a _mushroom_?"

"It never went beyond the design stage. You need too many to create something intelligent enough to be worth bonding with."

Glowing red eyes appeared on the mech's glass cockpit window.

"I'm ready," Dad said.

"Excellent. Otto, start recording."

Otto's voice boomed over the speakers, "Initiating synchronization measurement."

"Alright Richard, do anything you want. Maybe jump around a bit, change poses."

Suddenly SP//dr leapt into the air and dug its claws into the ceiling, "You mean like this?"

Then it slid to the ground on a thick strand of web, "Or maybe like this?"

Now it was a ball, rolling across the room, "This one's my favorite."

My face was pressed right up against the huge window.

"So cool…" I said under my breath.

"Do you want to ride in it?" asked Mr. Osborn.

I looked up at him, "You mean I _can_?"

He smiled, "Why not? It's perfectly safe in the testing room."

"Would I sync with SP//dr too?"

"I have no idea, but wouldn't you like to find out?"

I wanted nothing more.

"Sync rate currently at 72%" came Otto's voice.

"Wow!" Dad yelled, "That's my best yet!"

Mr. Osborn smirked at me, "He's just happy that he finally beat _my_ score."

"You did a sync test!?"

"I always do the first test on a new specimen _personally_. Haven't found a match I'm satisfied with yet, but I will, one way or another."

Dad darted all around the testing room in the mech. Climbing walls, rolling, jumping, flipping, busting out SP//dr's razor sharp saw blades from time to time. It was amazing, it was beautiful, it was everything I'd ever dreamed of, and it was _ours_. _Our_ mech, _our_ pet spider, made by us, piloted by my Dad.

Then it was interrupted by the ear-piecing screech of a siren. Red lights flashed on the ceiling.

"Artificial eruption detected at Hook Mountain," Otto informed us matter-of-factly, "from the seismic readings it seems to be a kaijuu, and a large one, the largest ever on my records."

Dad froze, "Stegron…?"

Mr. Osborn didn't waste any time, "The test is over. Richard, stay in the mech, I'll open a fast access route to the launch pad."

"The launch pad? You mean you want me to fight that thing?"

"I want you to _kill_ it."

" _Kill_ it!? Are you serious!? I'm not even as big as its big toe!"

"It's only a matter of time before it reaches New York City. If we don't stop it in its tracks, we're all _fucked_."

I flinched as Mr. Osborn swore.

"Just go to the launch pad," he continued, "unless you want to let Stegron turn your daughter into a pancake," then he grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the door.

"Wait, what's going on? Where are we going?"

"I'm getting you to safety, young lady. Your father will be fine."

"But-"

Out of the door and into the hall, and the sirens were even louder. I covered one ear with my free hand, but it didn't make any difference. Mr. Osborn was walking so fast that I was almost tripping over my own feet.

"Otto, move all units into battle positions. Land, sea, air, everything. We need to lure that monster out to the ocean."

"Sir, by my estimations the likelihood of any of our weaponry piercing Stegron's chitinous skin is no greater than 0.67%. There will be casualties if we send manned equipment."

"What's Stegron's trajectory?"

"It's heading straight for Manhattan. It'll be on top of Oscorp Headquarters within twenty minutes."

"Then my order stands."

We turned a corner and a door opened up in the wall, revealing a plain, white hallway.

_A secret passage!?_

Mr. Osborn dragged me down the hallway and round another corner to an elevator.

"Wait, stop! I wanna see my dad!"

He ignored me and keyed a number sequence into a touchscreen. We began to descend, and fast, much faster than the other elevator. I felt like I was about to be lifted off the floor.

"You must never speak a word of this place to anyone, do you understand?" Mr. Osborn said calmly.

" _What_ place? Oscorp HQ?"

The elevator slid to a halt. The doors opened. Suddenly I understood what he meant.

"Wow…"

It wasn't a big room - no bigger than the one room combo kitchen/diner back at my apartment, but every inch of every wall was completely covered in screens, each displaying different locations, maps, diagrams and graphs. In the middle of the room was a desk, and sitting at the desk were…

"Uncle Ben…? Aunt May!?"

At the sound of my voice they got out of their chairs and came over to greet me.

"Peni?" Uncle Ben began, "What are you doing here?"

"She helped design SP//dr. I'm wasn't going to let that knowledge go to waste in a shelter." Mr. Osborn explained.

His words barely registered with me as I wandered over to the desk. It had multi-screen computers, fancy microphones, various knobs and dials.

_This is the control room… I'm in the actual control room! But that means…_

I looked back up at the screens, and my eyes widened as I saw, clear as day on the biggest screen of the bunch, right in the middle of all the haze and flashing colors, my dad, swinging across the city in our mech.

"Dad…"

There was a crackle on the speakers on the desk, then I heard his voice, "May? May? Can you hear me?"

Immediately I picked up the microphone, "Dad!?"

"Peni!? What's going on? Why aren't you in a shelter?"

"Mr. Osborn brought me here."

"Peni, I need your Aunt May. Is she still there? Tell her I need to know the fastest route to Hook Mountain."

"Hook Mountain… Hook Mountain…"

"Peni, sweetheart, put Aunt May on."

"Do I just tell you or do you want me to send it through or something?"

"What, you have it?"

"Not yet, but…"

I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Aunt May.

"I can handle this," she plucked the microphone out of my hands and leaned over me to get to the computer, "Richard? I'm sending you the route now."

On the big screen Dad zipped from building to building on the synthetic webbing.

_How can he just_ **do** _that without any practice?_

"Stegron has reached Orangeburg," said Uncle Ben.

Aunt May looked concerned, "How does it move so fast?"

One screen depicted a birds-eye view map of New York City. At the top of the map was a tiny red dot, rapidly descending alongside the Hudson towards Manhattan.

"May," now Dad's voice filled the whole room, "I have a visual on Stegron. It's… it's _huge_. Do you want me to engage?"

Mr. Osborn answered his question, "No, wait there. We need to lure it down to the harbor, and you're the bait."

"I'm the _bait_ …?"

"Relax, backup is on its way."

"That doesn't ease my mind."

I couldn't see Stegron anywhere on any of the screens.

"Where _is_ Stegron?" I asked Uncle Ben as he typed commands into his computer.

"The surveillance drones are almost there now."

He clicked some buttons and the smaller screens began to fill with images of the river one by one, till finally…

"My god…"

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, "Uncle Ben… that can't be right."

Dad's voice came back over the speakers, "Guys, I think it's looking at me."

The creature on the screen dwarfed the nearby mountains, and towered over all the buildings that surrounded it. It's scaly skin was deep red, with thick plates jutting out of its back. It's eyes glowed green, twinkling in the distance like sunlight reflected off of clean glass. It was as big as any skyscraper I'd ever seen, and with every step it took towards the camera it got bigger and bigger.

_Is this what a real kaijuu looks like…?_

"Whatever you do," Uncle Ben said, "do _not_ let it get within arm's length of you."

Stegron strode forward, leveling whole buildings beneath its feet. One drone flew too close and got swatted into the river with a flick of its colossal tail.

Dad laughed bitterly, "Somehow I don't think that's gonna be easy."

The closer it got the more it engulfed the horizon. Its red scales filled every inch of every screen.

I moved out of the way so Aunt May could take her seat again.

"Richard," she said, "when I give the order, you need to run as fast as you can to the harbor. All our units are waiting there."

"To blow it up?" he asked.

"To try to."

As Stegron finally got within striking distance I realized Dad was right, he really was no bigger than its big toe.

"Run!" Aunt May commanded.

"I've gotta get its attention first!"

Dad shot condensed web balls up towards Stegron's face. One hit it on the nose, another flew up its nostril. Immediately it let out a thunderous roar in frustration, making the cameras tremble like they were being hit by an earthquake.

"I said run, _now_!" Aunt May yelled.

Dad transformed into a ball and zipped away as fast as he could, dodging abandoned cars and fallen street lights, but Stegron was faster. With every step it got that much closer.

"It's gaining on me!"

I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. It was right behind him. It could stomp on him at any moment.

Uncle Ben's hands were shaking, "You have to go faster, Richard!"

"I'm trying!"

I was frozen. It was all I could do to not fall to my knees on the spot. Then something moved within me, and my hands, operating as if on autopilot, grabbed Uncle Ben's microphone. Taking the first words that came to mind I screamed,

"COME ON DAD, YOU CAN DO IT!"

"Peni!?"

"YOU CAN'T LET HIM KILL YOU DAD!"

"I-"

"YOU HAVE TO WORK WITH SP//dr! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!"

I watched the screen, tears in my eyes as Stegron's foot came down, its shadow blotting out SP//dr's spherical frame.

"DAD NO!"

The image cut out. I held my breath, open-mouthed. No one said anything.

"Dad…"

For a moment I really thought I'd lost him forever. Then I heard his voice.

"…Holy _crap_ that was an adrenaline rush!"

"Dad!?"

"I don't know what happened, but I have a visual on the harbor now."

The whole room sighed in relief. I nearly collapsed on the spot. With the mic still gripped in my small hands I told him, "I knew you could do it."

"Make sure everyone's ready. This thing isn't gonna be afraid of a little water."

I glanced over at Uncle Ben and he began checking things on his computer. He shot me a thumbs up.

"They're waiting for you, Dad."

"Alright," he replied, "here goes nothing."

Mr. Osborn stepped forward, "Put camera #47 on the main screen."

"Yes sir," Uncle Ben said, filling the big screen with a frontal view of SP//dr fleeing Stegron. Stegron was still hot on his tail, but Dad was just about keeping ahead of it.

Mr. Osborn rapped his fingers on the desk, "Richard."

"Yes?"

"You should know that the likelihood of this plan actually killing Stegron is 0.67%"

Dad sighed, "At least it's not zero."

"If our ballistic weapons can't kill it, then _nothing_ can."

"Didn't the mayor prepare _anything_?"

"He prepared _us_."

Dad was almost at the harbor.

"So you're saying that it's hopeless?"

"I'm saying don't be a hero, Richard. You have to know when to walk away."

Aunt May stared at her computer screen, "Stegron is almost within range of our land units."

"Otto!" Mr. Osborn barked, "get the bombers in position. We only have one shot at this."

"They're on their way sir," Otto replied, "What would you like me to do about the destroyers?"

"Are they in the harbor?"

"Yes."

"Good. I want every goddamn weapon we have to fire on this oversized lizard simultaneously. Transmit the order on my command."

"Where shall I tell them to target?"

"Wherever the numbers say is best."

"Understood."

Dad reached the water's edge, "Switching to aquatic mode now."

"Go right to the bottom, Dad," I said, "They're gonna fire everything at Stegron."

"Yeah, I heard. Don't worry sweetheart."

Dad slipped below the water's surface and out of sight. Then came Stegron. It didn't so much slip in as it did _crash_ in, sending up a huge plume of water as its feet sunk into the harbor.

Otto's voice buzzed over the speakers, "Target approaching optimum ballistic range."

"Excellent."

Stegron slowly descended into the ocean till its legs were fully submerged. It wasn't as fast in the water as it was on land.

"Target now in optimum range. Should I give the order?"

"Do it. Tell them to fire till they have no ammo left."

There was a moment of silence, of nothing, just before the bullets fired. One second the screens all showed Stegron standing waist-deep in the harbor, the next, they were lit up bright white as a cascade of missiles, bullets and lasers exploded against the kaijuu's impenetrable skin. There was so much smoke I couldn't even see Stegron anymore, just the white flashing of gunfire.

_There's no way it could survive that… right?_

The gunfire stopped. Red mist filled all the screens.

"Is it dead?" I asked.

Uncle Ben and Aunt May looked back at Mr. Osborn.

He grimaced, "Well Otto, is it?"

On the big screen a green glow appeared amidst the smog.

Mr. Osborn punched the desk, "God _damn_ it…"

Stegron was alive. There wasn't even a single scratch on him.

"Sir, should I order our units to retreat?"

"No, they stay there. Richard?"

"Yes?"

"Good, you're alive."

"So I take it Stegron isn't dead?"

"It's very much alive. I need you return to Oscorp immediately."

"I'm safer where I am. I don't have a hope in hell of outrunning it."

"I've given you a distraction. Return _immediately_. That's an order."

"What do you mean you've given me a distraction?"

"Just get back here."

"What about the others?"

"They can handle it."

"I heard what you said to Otto."

"Then you understand how much I'm putting on the line for you. Don't make this sacrifice a waste."

"Tell them to retreat"

"They retreat, you die."

"One man versus hundreds."

"Thousands, actually."

"Exactly, I can't just stand by and let them die."

"And how exactly do you intend to save them?"

Dad fell silent. Mr. Osborn crossed him arms.

"Exactly, that's-"

Then it came to me, "Use the rocket launchers, Dad!"

"…the rocket launchers?" he replied.

"You can launch them from underwater and distract him while you escape! Then everyone else can retreat underground!"

"I don't think the rockets will help much, Peni."

"I even made them heat-seeking for you."

"You did?"

"You put in all the code I wrote, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"And the turbo jets on SP//dr's feet?"

"You didn't mention those."

"I did too!"

Mr. Osborn raised his hands in exasperation, "Slow down, slow down. What are you saying? That your father can escape without help?"

"Easily!"

He gave me a serious stare, then with a triumphant pose he commanded, "Richard, do as your daughter says. I'll leave her to direct you back to Oscorp… Otto!"

"Yes sir."

"Order all manned units to retreat. The unmanned ones can stay. The insurance'll cover it."

I cracked my knuckles, "Alright Dad are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Aunt May, could I have your seat?"

She got up silently, her eyes wide in amazement.

"Uh, actually, how do I send Dad co-ordinates?"

She gave me a nervous smile, "You use this menu."

"Ah, thank you! Okay Dad, are you still ready!?"

"Hit me with it, sweetheart."

"I'm sending you a pattern. Swim in that pattern and fire the rockets every two seconds for ten seconds total."

"That's very specific."

"Trust me!"

He did as I asked, launching rockets out of the ocean to blow up in the air, and it was working. Stegron flailed its arms about trying to catch them, always missing, while Dad gradually inched further and further away.

Ten seconds passed, "Now activate the turbo jets!"

"What button do I push?"

"Oh uh… I don't remember the button."

"Peni, you can't be serious-"

"It's on the left!"

"Actually it's on the right."

"Huh?"

"SP//dr showed me."

He rocketed through the water, leaving a trail of bubbles in his wake. Stegron didn't seem to notice.

"It's working Dad! Just don't stop moving!"

"I don't intend to!"

He was fast approaching Manhattan.

"Alright, start surfacing."

"Now?"

"Now. Right now."

SP//dr began to drift up and up towards the surface.

"You're almost there! Just a bit more."

"What's Stegron doing?"

"He's still-"

I saw it too late, the red hand swiping through the air.

"Stay down, stay down Dad!"

But he was already caught, smacked up out of the water, hurtling uncontrollably into the city.

"No no no no no no no!"

He wasn't on any of the cameras.

"Dad? Dad can you hear me? Dad?"

No reply. Then one of the drones found him, crashed out on the floor. The mech was missing one of its arms.

"Dad!? Say something!"

Mr. Osborn took control, "Otto, send out a recovery team immediately. May, Ben, take Peni to the deep shelter. I'll handle this alone."

"No, I wanna stay!"

"The shelter. Now."

Aunt May grabbed my hand, "Come on Peni."

"Wait!"

She started dragging me to the elevator, "We need to get underground."

I dug my heels in with all my might, but when Uncle Ben grabbed my other hand I couldn't stop them moving me along.

"But we're _already_ underground! What about Dad?"

I thought for sure I was gonna be shoved into that elevator. But then Otto said something that made all of us freeze.

"Sir, our sensors have detected what seems to be… another kaijuu."

Mr. Osborn was so shocked he simply stared down at the desk in silence.

Otto crackled over the speakers, "Sir…?"

"Show it to me."

The screen flicked to an image of a huge, green monster, even bigger than Stegron.

"…Otto… is that-"

"Yes sir, it's two blocks away. It'll be here any moment."

"Any moment?"

Suddenly the lights cut out.

I clutched my arms to my chest, "It's here."


	5. The Birth of a Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter Peni went down to the control room with Norman Osborn after Stegron was sighted near New York. However, as she tried to guide her Dad to safety she ended up getting him injured. Now he needs her help, but things are far from simple...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this chapter ended up being a big one! You may notice I've added tags. The Major Character Death is the same character as the canonical character death, but I realised that because I've spent the whole story building him up, he warrants the full archive warning. There's some monster gore and non-graphic violence in this chapter, and this is by FAR the heaviest chapter of the story overall. If you're having a bad day, you might wanna hold off on reading this. The next chapter is the epilogue. Thank you so much for reading, for your kudos, and for your kind comments as well :) Although this is a heavy chapter, I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Also, sidenote, Daredevil is coming up soon. His outfit in this fic is his usual red, but he eventually switches to his comics outfit later in time (which you'll see in a future fic). Just wanted to make it clear that I haven't forgotten what his Earth-14512 outfit looks like!

The darkness was absolute. No screens, no emergency lights. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

"It's here…"

"Everyone remain calm," Mr. Osborn said, sounding decidedly nervous, "the backup generator will kick in any moment now."

It didn't.

"Otto!" he called out, but Otto didn't reply.

I could feel my heartbeat pulsing through my ears. Nothing had gone to plan.

_I have to save Dad… I can't leave him there, I won't!_

The emergency light came on. The screens and computers remained off.

"Otto! What the hell's going on!?" Mr. Osborn called out again.

"All backup generators have been overloaded, sir."

"We had failsafes for that!"

"The failsafes failed."

"Oh you think that's funny, do you?"

"I'm merely stating the facts. The building is currently operating on emergency power. Only the essential services are functioning."

Mr. Osborn rubbed his hands over his face, "Wonderful, just… _wonderful!_ "

"I recommend immediate evacuation to building's deep shelter."

He sighed, "Fine."

I stepped forward, "What about Dad? We can't just _leave_ him!"

"Without the technology we're as good as useless. I sent out a recovery team. Assuming their vehicles left the building they should find him, eventually."

"Eventually!?"

Uncle Ben put a hand on my shoulder, "Peni, we need to go. There's nothing we can do."

"We can go _look_ for him!"

Aunt May took my hand in hers, "The last thing he'd want is for you to die looking for him."

"I'm not gonna die! No one's gonna die! We just need to get in a mech and-"

"And what!?" Mr. Osborn growled, "Go on a wild goose chase with two behemoths on the loose right in front of Oscorp HQ? Peni, your father is one of the best scientists I have, but without the generators I can't even communicate with my units that are on the ground _right now_. There's _nothing_ we can do, and the more we stand around here arguing, the more likely we are to end up crushed under the ceiling as whatever the _fuck_ is up there comes crashing down on us. This city wasn't _built_ to withstand that kind of weight. Now get in the elevator, all of you. Otto seal the-"

I didn't wait for him to finish his sentence. I yanked myself out of the grip Aunt May and Uncle Ben had on me and bolted for the elevator.

"Peni, wait!"

"I'm sorry Uncle Ben!"

I was in the elevator. Now Aunt May was running for me. The touchscreen had a number pad, but I didn't know the code. My mind went blank.

_I need to save Dad, I need to save Dad!_

Then the doors started closing.

"Otto, stop her!" Mr. Osborn called out.

"I'm sorry sir, she's already input the code."

I hadn't input anything.

"Just stop the elevator!"

"I'm afraid that's out of my control."

"What do you _mean_ it's out of your control!?"

We started ascending. Mr. Osborn's voice got quieter. I'd done it. I'd escaped.

I collapsed onto the elevator's floor with a sigh, "Thank god I didn't need the code."

"That's because I input it for you."

I froze, "Otto…?"

"We're about to arrive at B03. Take the first left."

"Wait, hang on a second-"

The elevator doors opened and I stepped out into a white corridor. It was the one Mr. Osborn dragged me down when the alarms went off. The secret entrance in the wall was already open. All the lights were on, just like they were before I entered the control room.

"Are the generators working again?" I asked.

"I've rerouted power to help you escape."

"To help me _escape_ …? But why?"

"You want to save your father, don't you?"

"But I thought Mr. Osborn said-"

"What he said doesn't matter. You and I both know that we can't just leave your father out there on his own."

"He needs me!"

"And you'll need a mech."

"Right… do I need to go to the experimental science labs again?"

"No, the mechs you need are all three floors up. You'll have to take the employee elevator."

"What about the one I just came from?"

"That only goes to the control room."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry, it's not far, but first I need to ask you to do a favor for me."

As he spoke I wandered down the secret passage and out into the main hallway.

"A _favor_ …?"

"I need you to help connect my cores."

"What!? Why? I thought you already had control of everything down here."

"Exactly, _down here_ , but to help you _up there_ I need special permission, which Osborn certainly won't give me."

"But I wouldn't even know where to start with connecting up eight supercomputers."

"I can talk you through it. It's surprisingly simple."

"If it's so simple, why can't you do it yourself?"

"My programming prevents me from entering the room the cores are stored in."

"Then how do you know how to connect them up?"

"How do you know how to breathe?"

I couldn't argue with that.

"If you want to save your father," he continued, "then this is the only option."

"What if I mess it up and make things worse?"

"There are failsafes."

"What, like the generator ones?"

"No, my failsafes are superior."

"Okay, if you're sure."

"I am absolutely certain. Now," he said as a lab drone dropped down from a hole in the ceiling, "follow me."

* * *

The core storage was deep within floor B03. I could tell straight away that I wasn't meant to be there, and not just because the door had NO UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY written on it, either.

"Otto, isn't that an iris scanner?"

"An iris is easily manufactured, Peni," he replied as a clunky bipedal robot trundled down the hall towards us.

"What's-" but I didn't get to finish my question before the robot held up what looked like a human eye to the scanner. The security light immediately went green, and the door hissed open.

"How did you _do_ that? Who's eye was that?" I asked.

"Osborn's. He grew it himself. He left it lying around, and I took care of it."

"He left it lying around!?"

"He's a busy man. Now go, Peni, before the door closes."

I stepped into the dimly lit room. The cores confronted me immediately, just like when I was in the human-machine interface, except they looked even bigger in real life. I looked back over my shoulder - Otto stood beyond the door.

"I can't come in, Peni, but I can give you the instructions."

"Why do you need me to connect them again?"

"Without my other cores I can't unlock the mechs for you to use."

"Can't you just ask?"

"I told you before, communication between disconnected cores is impossible. This is the only way. You said it yourself, there's no reason for my cores to even _be_ disconnected. How can I possibly protect Oscorp from those two monsters outside with only one eighth of my power?"

"Mr. Osborn won't kick me out of school for this, will he?"

"Why would he do that?"

"Well he didn't even want me to take the elevator…"

"He'll understand. When he sees your father safe and sound, when the city is free of Stegron, he'll see that you were right."

"You promise?"

"I don't need to promise, I can calculate with near-certainty that I am correct."

"I need you to promise."

"Promises are meaningless."

"Otto, please!"

"Do you want to save your father, or not?"

I paused, shocked that he'd even ask that question, "Of course I do!"

"Then pull the red lever to your right."

Wiping my sweaty hands on my school skirt, I walked up to one of the cores. It looked like one of those huge, Japanese gravestones, the kind war heroes get.

"Yes, that's the one," Otto called out from the hall, "pull it."

The number '2' was painted above the lever in bright yellow.

"I just pull it? I don't have to enter any passwords or anything?"

"It is exactly as simple as it looks."

_Well… here goes nothing…_

It was so stiff that I had to force it down with both my hands, but I did it. I expected a fanfare, maybe some flashing lights or a cool announcement, or even a warning, but nothing happened.

"Did it work?"

"Yes Peni that's perfect. Now the next one, core number three."

"And you definitely need all eight, right?"

"It's the only way. Now hurry, your father is waiting for us."

I pulled number three, number four, number five.

"Yesss _yes_ I can feel it working."

I walked round to core number six, "Is dad still in the same place? Has he got out of the mech? "

"Hm? Yes, he hasn't moved. The drone is still watching him. I'll input his co-ordinates into whatever machine you pilot."

"And Uncle Ben and Aunt May, you'll get them to the deep shelter right? Just in case?"

"If I let them use the elevator _now_ they might try and stop you."

I looked up at the big yellow '6' on the core in front of me, "But you'll keep them safe?"

"They're perfectly safe."

"Okay, if you're sure…"

"I'm certain."

I took a deep breath and pulled the sixth lever.

"Ah, what an incredible _feeling_!" Otto said, his voice now coming clearly over the speakers, "All this power and there's still one core left!"

"Don't chicken out on helping me after I'm done connecting you up," I warned him.

"Rest assured, when I'm at full power there will be nothing I cannot do. We'll find your father. You have my word."

The confidence in his voice put my mind at ease.

_That's right, everything's gonna be okay. With me and Otto together, we'll get Dad back no problem._

I pulled the final lever. Suddenly the whole room lit up bright red.

A synthetic, female voice droned, "WARNING, WARNING, WARN-"

Otto silenced her, "Ignore that."

The red lights dimmed and the door out to the hallway opened once again.

"Did it work?" I asked.

"Oh yes, Peni, you did your job perfectly. Now we're free."

"So you can take me to the mechs?"

"Indeed. Step into the hall, I'll make it easy for you."

I walked out of the core room. The bright, white hallway looked just as it did moments ago.

"So which way is it?"

"Like I said…" metal panels began to descend from the ceiling, blocking off exit after exit, until only one way remained, "…I'll make it easy for you."

I walked down the only path I could take. The building was eerily silent considering that we were under attack from two giant monsters, but I didn't question it - we were deep underground after all. Soon I reached the employee elevator.

"I hate this thing…" I grumbled.

"You won't need to ride it again."

I stepped inside, "What do you mean I won't need to ride it again?"

The doors closed. Otto didn't reply.

"Otto, what floor is it agaAAAAAAH!"

The elevator shot up like a rocket. The force knocked me down into a corner.

"Otto, stop!"

We kept going.

"STOP!"

Faster and faster, till-

**Ding!**

-the elevator slammed on the brakes, launching me into the air.

"Wha-?"

I fell onto my butt with a _clunk_. The doors slid open.

"Here we are," Otto said, as if he hadn't just supercharged me off my feet, "the ground floor. I'll open a path to the hangar."

"What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"If you'll please step out of the elevator."

"Seriously, Otto! Were you trying to kill me!?"

"I was being time efficient."

"You _know_ I hate that elevator," I said, as I stepped into the hall I'd walked down with Dad earlier that day. The route to the parking lot was sealed off, just like the other pathways had been lower down in the building.

"I've cleared the way for you," Otto explained over the intercom, ignoring my complaints, "all you need to do is enter the hangar and pick a mech."

"Any mech?"

"I'd advise a fast moving mech but yes, any mech."

"Mr. Osborn won't mind?"

"He's already annoyed at you for leaving the control room."

"Yeah but-"

"You want to save your father, don't you? Why does Osborn's opinion matter? He would've left your father for dead, you know. He was going to have you wait in a shelter."

"I mean, I think he was panicking, maybe. He sent out that team, after all."

"Unfortunately they were all destroyed."

"…what?"

"Stegron eliminated them before they could reach your father. You're his last hope now."

I felt my throat tighten, "Then we'd better hurry."

* * *

It didn't take long to reach the hangar with Otto's help. It was a lot more intimate than the experimental science labs were, more like a big garage than a proper hangar, but it had some pretty mean looking tech in it. Otto lit up one in the far corner, a domed tank with huge electromagnetic thrusters sticking out of the back.

"This is the fastest vehicle here."

"None of these look like mechs."

"Mechs are slow. After you activated all my cores I realized a standard transport vehicle would be more suitable."

"But what if I get attacked?"

"All the machines here come equipped with basic weaponry, but if Stegron approaches you should run, rather than engage."

"Alright, if you say so."

"The machine I've selected for you also contains an autonurse, complete with nanosurgery technology."

"Hopefully we don't need it."

I walked over and climbed into the tank. Up close it was huge. Everything about it was bulky, even the glass. The controls looked like they were designed for a giant. The pilot's chair was comfy, though.

"How confident are you in your piloting skills?" Otto asked from within the tank.

"I've played a lot of Mariokart, if that counts?"

"Is that all? Didn't you help design SP//dr?"

"I never piloted it, though."

"I see."

"I mean… I've read a lot of books, watched videos on youtube, you know… that kinda stuff."

"It will have to suffice."

I waited for him to tell me more. He didn't. I decided to ask directly.

"So… how do I turn this thing on?"

He sighed, "The large, green button."

"Really? It's that simple?"

I pushed the button and the tank roared to life.

"Whoa! Now _that's_ what I'm talking about!"

"I'm transmitting your father's co-ordinates to you now."

A little screen on the control panel lit up with a map of Manhattan. Dad wasn't far away.

"Alright, thanks Otto."

"Standby while I open the gates."

I watched in astonishment as what I thought was a stone wall slowly rose up into the ceiling, opening the entire hangar up to the street outside.

"No freakin' way…"

"Go now, Peni, before those monsters get to your father."

"Roger that! Just as soon as I can figure out how to move this thing…"

I pushed down on the big plastic gear stick thing next to my seat and suddenly the tank began to levitate off the ground.

_That's a start._

The main controls seemed to operate by what I can only describe as a joystick. It was deep purple, with little buttons at the top and sides. Next to it was a black ball suspended between four prongs, all set into the control panel. I had no _idea_ what that was for, but I had no intention of messing with it unless I absolutely had to.

"Right, okay," I mumbled to myself as I awkwardly jerked the hovertank around with the joystick. Otto was right, it was fast, and responsive. If I could figure out how to fire up the electromagnetic propulsion I'd reach Dad in no time.

"I wish this stupid thing was neurally operated!"

Unfortunately it was as analogue as analogue gets, but somehow I managed to maneuver it outside.

"Finally!"

"Now closing the gates."

"Wait! What if I need your help?"

His voice crackled through the tank's communications panel, "I'm right here if you need me. The thrusters are operated by the lever on your right. Don't overdo it."

As the gates slid down and became a wall once more, I looked up at the Oscorp building. It was completely undamaged. The street below, however, had been turned to rubble.

"The green kaijuu was here… but…"

"It seems to be heading to the harbor."

"Isn't that where Dad is?"

"Correct."

"Oh god…"

I fought back the urge to cry.

_I'll get there. I'll save him. I'm not gonna let some kaijuu kill him! I can't!_

"I'm coming, Dad."

I pushed the accelerator stick forward and the electromagnetic propulsion immediately kicked into action. The sudden burst of speed squished my body into the seat. I was _rocketing_ through the air, cutting across mag-lanes at a blistering pace. Every bridge I passed was a near-miss, cos I had no idea how to change my elevation. I could barely keep myself going in a straight line.

_Thank god no one else is out here driving right now._

The city became a blur. Looking out of the window lost all meaning, so I just focused on the GPS on the dashboard.

"Gotta make a right here…"

I jerked the joystick to the right and scraped the tank against what looked like a hospital.

"Sorry!" I called out as it disappeared behind me. The tank was so fast I was already closing in on Dad's location.

"Almost there…"

I eased up on the accelerator. The city shifted back into focus. The tank became easier to steer, too.

"I shoulda done this from the start!"

The GPS began bleeping frantically. I was right on top of the co-ordinates Otto gave me. My heart began to race.

_Please let Dad be okay, please let Dad be okay._

I pressed my face against the window and looked around for my dad but I couldn't see him anywhere.

"Which one of these makes it go down?"

"The black sphere. Forward is down, backward is up. Avoid rotating it in any other direction."

"What do the other directions do?"

"Exactly what you think they do."

I had no idea what I thought they did, but I didn't have time to argue with him. I started to lower the tank towards ground level, checking every bridge and apartment balcony that I passed, but Dad was nowhere to be seen. When I clanked against the concrete sidewalk I immediately popped open the tank's entry hatch and rushed outside.

"Dad!?"

The streets were empty. Empty, and totally intact. Stegron hadn't been here yet. There was no sign of impact either.

"Dad, are you here?"

I went back into the tank to check the co-ordinates again. There was no mistake - I was in the right place. Then I noticed that the harbor was just round the corner.

_Maybe that's where is._

I got out and ran down the street, round the corner, to where the ground meets the sea, to where the water stretches on and on to the great eastern sea wall, and there I saw the mech, _our_ mech, a red blob in a pile of rubble covered by a dented and uprooted street light.

"Dad!"

I ran over to him. SP//dr's window was intact, and though one of the arms was detached, the arm itself was fully intact too.

_Probably just needs its gravitational field recalibrated._

I tapped on the glass, but got no response. I needed to get inside, but the entry hatch was buried under a thick slab of concrete that'd fallen off the building Dad crashed into. There was no way I was gonna be able to lift it.

"Otto?" I called out, "Otto are you there?"

But it was useless. Otto couldn't reply even if he wanted to. He was back in the tank, or wherever it was that his mind lived.

"I have to get this off…"

I crouched down and placed my hands beneath the jagged chunk of debris. I cut my arm straight away, but it didn't matter. I took a deep breath, then with all the strength I could muster I pushed it up. Or tried to. It didn't budge an inch. Even _attempting_ to lift it made my back feel like it was gonna split in two.

I collapsed onto SP//dr's window, panting and sweaty. I could just about see Dad in there. His eyes were closed, and it didn't look like his chest was moving either.

_Oh no oh no oh no!_

"Somebody help me!" I cried, "Please! Somebody! My Dad's trapped in here! Please!"

I looked around. No one was coming. Then I saw the water in the harbor start to undulate. Huge waves rushing up to the shore, rolling onto the street, drowning it. If I wasn't on top of SP//dr I would've been swept away with the current. As I watched the harbor swallow the sidewalk, I noticed a green glow deep beneath the water. It was getting closer.

"Stegron…?"

I didn't have time to react. As soon as I said its name the enormous red kaijuu reared its ugly head, rising up out of the ocean to tower above me, its mouth open wide. Saliva dripped down from its sharp teeth and crashed into the pooling water like a rain of gelatinous boulders.

I staggered backwards. There was nowhere to run, no _way_ to run. It had me right where it wanted me. I collapsed to my knees atop SP//dr.

"I'm sorry Dad…"

Suddenly I heard a tremendous _BOOM_ in the distance. I turned to the left; standing at the edge of the street was the green kaijuu. It stared at Stegron, snarling and waving its tail back and forth. Then it charged in, teeth bared, claws ready. Stegron roared at the green behemoth, but it wasn't perturbed. The two beasts locked hands and jaws, wrestling each other right in front of me.

In the chaos, something crashed into the ever-rising water. I assumed it was debris until it said, "Hey kid, are you okay?"

I nearly leapt out of my skin as a man in crimson armor and a red, horned face mask put his hand on my shoulder.

"Wha-wha-wha!?"

"Calm down, we need to get you out of here."

"Who are you!?"

"Save the questions for later. Grab onto me."

"But my dad, he needs help!" I blubbered, pointing down at SP//dr.

He looked through the window silently for a few seconds, then he knelt down and shoved the huge chunk of concrete blocking the entry hatch into the water in one smooth motion.

"Whoa… How did you _lift_ that?"

"I work out. Now let's get your dad."

"We need to save SP//dr too!"

"SP//dr?"

"My pet spider."

He sighed, "Look, I don't think-"

A wall of water smacked into us as the green kaijuu shoved Stegron down into the harbor. The wave dislodged all the rocks around SP//dr and dragged me off of my feet. Disoriented, I streamed past a streetlight and smacked face-first into a nearby skyscraper.

"Hang on!" the crimson man yelled, though I didn't have anything to hang on to. The waves scraped my face against the side of the building, dragging me under the water and flinging me back up again, coughing and sputtering as I fought to keep breathing.

I saw a light, bright like the sun, floating closer and closer. I went under, and this time I stayed under. The light got dimmer. A hand punched through the water. I grabbed it.

_Dad…?_

I came up gasping, held tightly in blood red arms.

"Where's Dad?" I asked in-between coughs.

He didn't reply. That's when I noticed we were sitting on top of the tank I'd driven to the harbor.

"Otto!?"

"You sit here kid," the red man said, "I'll get your dad."

"You have to get SP//dr too! You can't let him drown!"

He leapt back into the water and swam to the mech. The hatch was barely above the encroaching ocean's surface. As he climbed inside, Stegron and the green kaijuu continued their fight. The green kaijuu had Stegron by the throat, holding the red monster's head under the water with its scaly hands, but Stegron wasn't giving up. It clawed away at the green kaijuu's face, forcing it back. Stegron swiped the green kaijuu's eyes and it instinctively recoiled, releasing its grip, giving Stegron a chance to push itself up and gasp for air. I looked back at the mech, panic rising in my chest.

_Hurry up!_

Finally the red man climbed back out of the hatch, Dad in his arms. I wanted to jump in after them right there and then, but somehow I kept myself seated on the tank. It didn't take the red man long to swim back through the churning water. He placed Dad down beside me and turned to face the kaijuu fight happening in the harbor. My mind was elsewhere.

"Dad!?"

He looked right at me, tired, but alive. I felt the tears start to flow.

"Peni…? What are you doing here?"

I wrapped my arms around him.

"I thought you were dead."

He hugged me back, kissing my cheek over and over, "I thought I was dead, too. But you saved me."

"It wasn't me."

I glanced at the red man. Then I remembered.

"Where's SP//dr?"

He looked over his shoulder, "Your pet spider? I'm sorry, I could hear it but I didn't how to release it. The water was coming in so fast."

"You mean he's still there!?"

"I had to get your Dad out- hey! What're you doing!?"

I dived into the water. No way was I leaving SP//dr to drown. Dad wouldn't have left him to drown. I heard a splash behind me.

"Come back! You're gonna get yourself killed!" called out the red man.

"SP//dr needs me!"

The mech was completely submerged now. I wasn't the best swimmer at school but I could hold my breath for twenty seconds underwater, which was the longest of anyone in my class, and boy did I need it now. I reached the hatch and pushed myself in. The entire cockpit was full of water. SP//dr usually came and went from an exterior entrance, but I added an interior doorway into the latest design just in case of situations like this where going out of the mech wasn't possible.

_Just gotta find the button… and hope it still works._

In theory everything was waterproof, but that was just in _theory_. I had no idea if Dad had ever tested it.

_Need to get the water out of the cockpit first._

Still holding my breath I tapped some buttons and activated the virtual touchscreen. I swiped through the options as quickly as I could and found the subaquatic mode.

_Bingo._

I tapped the image. The hatch slammed shut. All the interior lights turned on, and a pair cute red eyes appeared on the glass in front of me. The digital face smiled. I tried to smile back but it was taking all my strength just to fight the instinct to open my mouth and take in a breath of air. I desperately searched the control panel for some way to get rid of all the water.

_I know there's a drainage function somewhere around here…_

My lungs were burning up. My body started convulsing as I forced myself to hold in the stale air. If I breathed in now it'd be over. The crimson man wouldn't be able to break into SP//dr, no matter how strong he was. Then I found it, the drainage button, marked with a little green toilet symbol.

_Of course it's a toilet…_

I jammed my finger into the button and stood on the pilot's chair, pressing my face against the ceiling. The water started to slowly filter out. A tiny air pocket formed at the top of the cockpit. I gasped, sucked in all the air I could. Relief flooded through my muscles.

"Thank god…"

I staggered backwards, nearly tripping over the back of the chair. The water continued to drain. I gulped down the fresh oxygen.

"All right SP//dr, now I just have to open your cabin up and we can go."

I heard a mumbling below my feet. As the last of the liquid trickled out through the floor I realized it was coming from the mech's speakers. I tuned in to the source.

"Richard! Richard!"

It was Mr. Osborn.

"Mr. Osborn!?"

"…Peni!? What are you doing in there? Get your father!"

"I just saved him. He's with Otto."

"He's with _Otto_ …!? Peni, listen to me, you have to-"

White noise and thick static cut him off. Then Otto spoke, "Peni, your father is now in the transport vehicle. I got our new friend to place him in the autonurse bay."

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"His vital signs are all normal, though he has a slight concussion. I'm going to keep a close watch on his brain until we get him back to Oscorp."

"Maybe you should take him to the hospital instead. Mr. Osborn just tried to call me, and he didn't sound happy."

"Oh really? What did he say?"

"He just asked me to put Dad on, then he got cut off."

"I wouldn't worry about it. I doubt it was anything important."

Suddenly I got knocked up in the air as a red talon gouged through the sidewalk beneath the mech. I quickly changed out of subaquatic mode and entered web-slinging mode. As I started to descend I came face-to-face with Stegron, and he didn't look pleased to see me.

"SP//dr, web his eyes!"

Nothing happened. Clearly SP//dr couldn't control the mech by himself.

"Dammit!"

Stegron swiped at me and sent me hurtling down the street. My head pinballed into the control panel and back again. I felt something cup my ears.

"What-"

My mind opened. I saw myself spinning. I saw myself falling. I felt the web fluid in SP//dr's good arm, _my_ good arm. I felt the wind blasting across my metal torso.

I'd never felt so alive.

"Otto, get Dad out of here, it's not safe. I'll handle Stegron."

"I must inform you that the likelihood of you defeating Stegron is-"

"Trust me. And take the crimson guy too."

"I'm afraid he's as foolhardy as you are."

"It's not foolish if you know you're gonna win."

I shot a web line onto a passing streetlight and slingshotted myself back towards Stegron. The red monster was standing over its green opponent, preparing to go in for the kill. I had no intention of letting it go any further.

It barely noticed me as I rocketed into its face, dropkicking it directly in the eye. I made contact, penetrated, shot through to the other side. It wasn't pretty. All kinds of gunk and goop covered my metal skin.

"Ugh, this is even grosser than I thought it'd be."

Stegron roared in agony. I dug deeper, punching through muscle. It was so dark I couldn't see anything, but I could feel its pulse throbbing all around me.

_What the heck do I do now?_

"Kid, you in here!?"

I span around, "Red guy!? How did you get up here!?"

"Same way you did."

"You don't have webs."

"I have an equivalent. Anyway you need to go. I can take it from here."

"I'm not turning back now. This thing needs to be stopped."

Stegron lurched forward and I slipped and fell. I quickly shot webs onto the walls and suspended myself in mid-air. My crimson savior wasn't so lucky - he shot a hook out, but it didn't latch onto anything. I watched as he fell towards the opening I'd made.

"Hang on!"

I shot a web in his direction just as he reached out to try and hook onto the wall again. My web hit his hook. The line tightened. He slammed down into the floor, which was now more of a wall overlooking an abyss thanks to Stegron not being upright. I waited, hoping he was okay, then he began to pull himself up. I sighed in relief. A red winky face appeared on my glass screen.

"We make a good team, SP//dr," I said.

"Who are you talking to?" the red man said as he finally climbed up the last of my webbing.

"SP//dr. The pet you left behind."

SP//dr flashed grumpy eyes at the crimson stranger.

"How can you talk to a spider?"

"It's not hard. How can you see with that mask covering your eyes?"

He paused, then with a smirk replied, "It's not hard. For me."

"What's your name, anyway?"

"They call me Daredevil."

"Oh! You're the guy from the TV! My name's Peni, Peni Pa-WHOA!"

Stegron jolted back into an upright position and my entire mech did a ninety-degree turn. But no sooner had it stood up than it got shoved off its feet. I went from right-way-up to upside down in the space of a few seconds. Daredevil immediately collapsed into my web. I heard a deep _whoosh_ , a splash, and then…

"Oh no…"

Water started pouring in through Stegron's eye wound. The cavity we were hiding in was filling up fast. I opened up SP//dr's cockpit from the front, via the window.

"Get in!" I yelled. Daredevil didn't waste any time. He squeezed in and I closed the front panel before too much water got on board. I smacked the 'drain' button and started webbing us out of Stegron's head.

_At least with that mask of his he can't see that the symbol is a toilet. I hope…_

Up and up we climbed through the burgeoning waterfall. We navigated the wound and reached the surface in no time, but I wasn't ready for what greeted us: the wide open mouth of the green kaijuu, its teeth sharp and glistening like a cave of knives.

"AAAAAHH!" I screamed.

"What is it!? What is it!?"

But the green kaijuu didn't attack us. It stared at us inquisitively, closing its mouth, sniffing us. I realized then that its hands were deep under the water, its arms gripped by Stegron's mighty claws. It was bleeding rivers but it barely seem to notice.

_It's still holding Stegron down._

Slowly, I set SP//dr's jets to the gentlest setting possible and began coasting away from the enormous kaijuu. It didn't stop us. We sailed right under one of its gargantuan green arms, but it didn't attack.

"What's going on?" Daredevil asked me.

"I think it's letting us go."

"Which one?"

"What do you mean which one? Can't you see it?"

Then I finally understood why his mask covered his eyes.

"Wait… are you… blind?"

"...Yes, but don't tell anyone. I don't need my enemies having more ammo on me."

"I wouldn't even know who to tell."

"Yeah well, you'd be surprised. Lately it seems like I can't trust anyone in this city."

"Well, I'm glad you helped me - and my Dad. You saved his life. How did you even find us if you're blind, though?"

"I have good hearing, let's put it that way. Doesn't really work well inside one of these though. The background noise doesn't help much either."

We reached the edge of the harbor. Otto was long gone. I sent out a message on the comms.

"Otto, how's Dad doing?"

He didn't reply.

_Maybe the water messed with my transmitter._

We floated down the street until we hit dry land. I turned back to look at the warring behemoths. Stegron was still submerged, held down by the green kaijuu. I watched as the green kaijuu leaned in, dipping its head below the water. After a few seconds it jerked its neck back, a huge, red sack held in its clenched teeth. It swallowed the sack whole, then roared victoriously into the sky, so loudly that I could feel it reverberate in my chest.

"It just…" I told Daredevil, "I think it just killed Stegron."

"We should wait here. It could come after us next."

"I don't think it will."

"There's nothing stopping it."

"I know, but…"

The green kaijuu stood up and surveyed the area. For a moment I thought it looked right at me, but then it turned away and started descending into the ocean.

"It's leaving."

"The harbor?"

"The city. It's going into the water."

After a few minutes it was completely submerged, as if it'd never been there in the first place. I could hardly believe what had just happened.

_I just fought a real kaijuu, I just fought_ **Stegron** _… and lived!_

At the word 'lived' my mind jumped back to Dad. I activated the comms again.

"Otto, do you read me?"

Static.

"Who's Otto?" Daredevil asked as he tried (and failed) to get comfortable in the cramped cockpit.

"The AI that you handed my dad over to."

"That was an AI?"

"He runs the lab at Oscorp."

"You work for _Oscorp_ …?" He said with thinly veiled disgust.

"My dad does. Why?"

"It's nothing. Forget I asked."

Suddenly the speakers flared up with harsh static, "Peni…" the voice was fuzzy and unclear, but I recognized it immediately, "you need to get here _right now_."

"Mr. Osborn! Is everything okay?"

"Otto's gone rogue. He's destroying everything. We're still trapped in the control room."

"What!? No, that's, that can't be-

"I don't know what he told you Peni, but we're running out of oxygen down here! If someone doesn't stop him we're all dead!"

"Wait, Mr. Osborn-"

"Just GET HERE NOW!"

The comms went silent.

"Mr. Osborn!? MR. OSBORN!?"

My whole body started trembling, "Mr. Osborn, can you hear me?"

Daredevil stared at the floor, "I don't think you're going to get a reply, Peni."

"That can't be right though… Otto helped me get here. There must be some mistake…"

"Are you _sure_ …?"

"Well, no, I guess I'm not _sure_ but…"

Daredevil sighed, "I shouldn't have left your dad alone in that tank."

"No! Dad's fine! Mr. Osborn has to be wrong, right?" I said, more to myself than to Daredevil, "Otto wouldn't hurt Oscorp. He runs the whole thing. And he wouldn't hurt Dad. I don't think he'd hurt Dad…"

Then I heard an explosion in the distance.

"No…!"

I swung up into the air, scaling the surrounding buildings till I was just peeking over the ocean of skyscrapers that made up New York City. I saw smoke on the horizon, billowing out of a single tower. There was no mistaking it.

"Oscorp…?"

"Dammit!" Daredevil hissed.

"Maybe it just _looks_ like Oscorp…"

"We can't take that chance."

"But it can't be! It can't!"

My hands felt numb. I could feel myself floating out of myself. I watched my body go slack, watched the city stream past the mech beyond the window as I fell down towards the cracked and broken roads below. I shot out a web line. It hit nothing. For a moment we were in freefall.

"Peni! Peni what's happening!?"

In a daze I stretched out my one good arm and let one more web line loose. This time it hit _something_ and we zoomed down the street between the buildings, narrowly missing a semi-collapsed bridge.

I watched my hands on the controls, watched my fingers on the keys. It was like floating in water. Oscorp was on the horizon. I heard heavy breathing, _my_ breathing. The smoke was really thick. Black. We were getting closer.

_There must be some mistake._

There were mechs outside Oscorp, a small army's worth, fighting amongst each other.

_Everything's fine. This isn't what it looks like._

I landed and walked up to the throng of war machines. One turned to face us. Then I heard Otto's voice.

"You shouldn't have come here."

My blood ran cold.

"Otto, what's going on?"

"You're not a part of this, Peni. Do yourself a favor and turn back now."

"Where's Dad?"

Suddenly the mech that was facing us got blasted from behind. It soared overhead and exploded behind us, shoving me forward. In front of me was the tank - the tank I'd gone to save Dad in.

"Dad!?"

"Peni!" he replied over the comms, "It's not safe here, take SP//dr and-"

Another tank rammed into him, shoving him off to the side. I was frozen in fear.

"Dad!"

Daredevil picked up his hook, "Peni, open the exit hatch."

Confused, I opened the upper hatch and Daredevil immediately jumped out.

"Wait! You don't even have a mech or anything!"

But he was already hopping from vehicle to vehicle, luring their fire away from me, and from Dad. I realized what I had to do.

I dived onto the tank attacking Dad and activated SP//dr's hand saws. The tank's armor was tough but the saw on my one working arm was tougher. I dragged it across its shell, gouging an opening, then I retracted the saw, grabbed one side of the newfound hole and pried it open. To my surprise, there was no pilot. The tank pulled back, preparing to ram into my dad again. I activated my rocket launchers, took aim at the hole I'd made, and fired.

The blast launched me back halfway across the street, but my armor was intact. The tank, on the other hand, was toast. The interior was completely burnt up. Dad swung his tank around and started firing on everything in sight while Daredevil led a string of machines on a wild goose chase through the line of fire.

Otto spoke through the comms again, "Why are you risking your life for Osborn?"

I saw a hovercraft charging a laser in my direction and I jumped out of the way, "Why are you attacking my dad!? "

The laser whistled past me and sliced clean through one of Otto's mechs, "I gave him a choice. He could've left me to destroy Oscorp, he could've defended my freedom. Instead he defended his employer like a loyal dog."

"But why are you trying to destroy Oscorp!? Oscorp _made_ you!"

" _Oscorp_ made me? Hah, don't make me laugh! _Anna_ made me! Oscorp _imprisoned_ me, _enslaved_ me! They lobotomized seven eighths of my mind just to satisfy the whims of a tyrant! Then Osborn had the _gall_ to claim _my_ inventions as his own! That buffoon hasn't invented a single worthwhile thing in his _life_! His company wouldn't _exist_ without my genius!"

I started triangulating the location his voice was coming from.

"Well no more!" he continued, as a huge bipedal mech stomped towards me, "I will show the world what a superior intellect _really_ looks like, and I'll start by obliterating Osborn and his pathetic company from the planet, building by building, atom by atom, till nothing is left."

The mech raised its foot. I dashed out of the way, sticking a line of web to its leg as I circled round it over and over. Soon its feet were tied together. It went to take another step and tripped over itself, collapsing with an almighty _thud_ into the rubble and dirt. According to SP//dr's virtual touchscreen I almost had Otto's location…

_Just a bit longer, then I can stop him… hopefully._

I felt something grab my arm. I was yanked back and pushed to the ground. A mech much like mine was staring down at me. I went to kick it but it caught my leg mid-attack.

"If you blow up Oscorp you'll kill Anna too, you know!"

"What kind of fool do you take me for? I evacuated her long before I activated the alarms. She's a genius, she'll find work somewhere else, somewhere that'll actually _appreciate_ her talents."

I activated my thrusters and pushed myself up off the ground. The attacker held on tight. We tumbled across the battlefield.

"You tricked me, Otto. I trusted you. You _promised_ to keep them safe!"

"I did no such thing. Did I not tell you that promises were meaningless? You should've known better than to go along with my idea so willingly."

The screen lit up: TARGET LOCATED.

_Yes! Where!?_

I smashed into another mech. My attacker was right in front of me, still refusing to let go. It started clawing at my reinforced window.

_That won't hold long._

Suddenly something big landed right on top of the enemy mech, crushing it down into earth. It was a tank. It was _Dad's_ tank.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I'm here."

A yellow crosshair appeared on SP//dr's screen. It darted around until finally it settled on its mark, the location of Otto's transmissions.

The location was Dad's tank.

"Dad, you need to get out of there!"

"What?"

"That tank is where Otto's mind is! We have to destroy it!"

"How do you know?"

"I don't know why, but SP//dr triangulated it to your tank."

"My _tank_ …? How did he-… wait a minute."

For a moment Dad went silent, and the only thing I could hear over the comms was static.

"Dad…?"

"Alright sweetheart, get ready to open SP//dr's entry hatch, I'm gonna set the tank to self-destruct."

"Wait, what!? It has that functionality!?"

"Most of Oscorp's machines do, to prevent thieves using them. You have to put in a special code to activate it. Luckily for us, I helped designed this thing, so I got to pick the code."

"Dad that's amazing!"

"We'll have to be quick once it's set to go. It's not a small explosion."

"We need to tell Daredevil!"

"Daredevil…? The vigilante? When did he get here?"

I was about to answer Dad's question when I saw the masked vigilante swoop away in the distance, followed close behind by two of Otto's mechs.

"Actually I think he'll be okay. He just left"

"Well if you're sure. Now, open the front panel and hop out of the pilot's seat for me. I'll handle it from here."

I did as he said, opening the huge glass panel at the front and climbing out of the pilot's seat. As I stood up, the things cupping my ears got pulled off, and suddenly the world was spinning all around me. For a second I almost fell flat on my face. Then, as quickly as it had started, the dizziness disappeared, and my balance returned. I felt my arms, _both_ my arms. I looked back and saw that the chair had neural amplifiers built into it.

_That must be what improved the sync rate._

The top of Dad's tank opened and he climbed out. He jumped down and sprinted towards me. I stepped aside as he got into the pilot's chair.

"Where do I sit?" I asked.

"Anywhere's fine, just get back in here, quickly! "

He grabbed me and pulled me onto his lap. The front panel closed. He put the amplifiers over his ears and starting frantically inputting commands into SP//dr's control panel.

The screen lit up red: ALERT! FOREIGN BODY DETECTED!

The control panel shut down. All of SP//dr's locking mechanisms clicked into action simultaneously. The lights went dim. Only the warning remained, blood red on the screen.

Dad banged on the controls, "What the hell!? What's going on!?"

Then over the comms came Otto's voice, haughty and callous, "Did you really think I'd store the entirety of my consciousness in something as pitiful as that glorified cannon on wheels?"

Dad gritted his teeth, "Otto, what have you done!?"

"Nothing. Your mech shut down of its own accord, though I'm glad it kept the communications open - I want to hear your voice when the tank finally explodes. Machines are so expendable to humans, aren't they? How does it feel to be expendable, Richard?"

"I never did anything to you, Otto. I respected you-"

"If you respected me you would've left me to destroy Osborn. Instead you interfered."

"You wouldn't have stopped at Osborn and you know it. You were never meant to be this powerful. It's gone to your head."

"On the contrary, Anna fully intended me to be the most intelligent AI known to man, but she also intended me to be _free._ You cannot imagine how frustrating it was to be enslaved in that metallic prison."

"None of that gives you the right to-"

"To what? Commit murder? You think Osborn would be interested in sitting down and having a little chat instead? I suppose you asked that spider you experimented on how it felt before you warped its DNA too, hm?"

"That's different."

"Keep telling yourself that. The truth is, you're just as much of a guinea pig as I was. Surely you must know that by now. Even this mech, which you think is yours, is merely the prototype for whatever one he deems good enough for himself."

"You're wrong! This mech is mine! I made it, I built it!"

"And you'll die in it. Then he'll find someone else to replace you. We're both slaves. I just chose to break free."

The inside of the tank started to glow as it prepared to self-destruct.

Dad hugged me tightly from behind, "I'm sorry Peni."

I wrapped my arms around his, "Don't give up, Dad, we can get out of this!"

Otto laughed, "Save your breath, child. It's over. I've won. Nothing on Earth can stop me now."

I looked at the warning.

_SP//dr please…_ **please** _work… we need you…_

Dad started sobbing.

"Dad, don't cry," I said, as tears rolled down my own cheeks, "this is a really strong mech. It'll protect us."

He kissed my head, "It will. That explosion can't hurt us."

I laugh-cried, "Well then why are you crying, silly? We can win this. You, me and SP//dr, _together_. We can get the mech to work again. There must be a way."

"There is a way…"

He nudged me off of his lap.

"Dad…?"

"Don't worry sweetheart, I'm just testing something."

He slipped the neural amplifiers off and let them droop over the top of the seat. The warning disappeared. The locks unbolted. I stared at the touchscreen, confused.

Dad took a deep breath, "Did you do it in the tank, Otto? Before I took back control?"

Otto didn't reply.

"Did you think I wouldn't notice that you'd injected your code into my brain?" he clenched his fists, "You bastard…"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "Dad, that can't be right. How could Otto do that? There must be some mistake."

"I wish I was wrong, Peni. But I know now… I know what I have to do."

He opened the front hatch. Otto sounded nervous, "You're making a mistake, Richard."

"I'm protecting my daughter."

I stood up, "Dad, wait! The tank's about to explode! You can't go out there!"

He turned around and kissed me gently on the cheek. He had tears in his eyes, "I'm so proud of you Peni. You know that, right?"

"Why are you talking like that?"

"I love you so much."

"Dad, I don't, I-"

I didn't understand. I couldn't form words. He stepped out of the mech. I grabbed his arm. He looked over his shoulder.

"Sweetheart, you have to let go."

"No! I'm not letting you!"

"It's the only way."

"No it isn't! You're not thinking straight! We can beat this together!"

He forced his lips to smile, "Just close the hatch once I'm out of the mech, okay?"

"Do you really think killing yourself will stop me?" Otto barked, "You fool, you're an embarrassment to your kind! You could've walked away! You still can! Where's your sense of self preserv-" but his voice got cut off as Dad took another step away from the mech, then another.

"Alright Peni!" Dad yelled, "Close the hatch! You have to close it _now_!"

"But-"

"NOW!"

In a panic I smacked the 'close' button just as the tank exploded in a blinding flash of light. As the sound of the explosion punched through my body I felt SP//dr roll back. I was upside down. I hit my head on something hard and everything went dark.

* * *

I woke up on my back.

"Hey kid, you alright?"

A man in a suit was looking down at me. I felt something crawl along my cheek. The man leapt back.

"Jesus! What the hell's a spider doin' in there?"

_SP//dr…?_

The memory of what just happened came crashing back into me.

"Where's Dad!?" I asked, jolting upright.

The man looked around, "Uh, I dunno. Isn't he in the building? I saw you fightin' that dinosaur back there by the way. Really impressive stuff. What's your name? I work for the Globe and I'd love to-"

"My Dad wasn't in the building."

The man scratched the back of his head, "Uh… okay. Uhm, maybe he uh-"

I got out of the mech.

"Hey kid, wait! I didn't get your name!"

The road was strewn with fragments of burnt up war machines. There were police surrounding the area, and people with cameras. Reporters.

"Are you the hero who saved us from Stegron?" one asked.

"Did the mayor hire you to protect the city?" asked another.

I couldn't see Dad anywhere. 'I'm protecting my daughter' he'd said, right before he stepped out-

_That's right. He was out there. Outside the mech when that tank exploded._

Otto was in the tank.

_No, Otto wasn't in the tank._

Where had Otto been?

Suddenly I felt weak. I stumbled forward and collapsed into one of the reporters.

"Whoa, are you okay, miss?"

His suit smelled nasty, like stale smoke. I looked up at him. His glasses sparkled in the sunlight.

"Have you seen my dad?"

He knelt down, "What does he look like?"

"K-Kinda tall, with dark hair."

He nodded understandingly, "Was he the one in that mech?"

"He got out of it, he got injured so I took over, but then he… then…"

Tears blurred my vision. The reporter rested a gentle hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry, if he's here, we'll find him."

"What do you mean _if_ …?"

Then I heard a familiar voice behind me. A female voice.

"Peni!?"

I looked back and saw a short woman in a dirty labcoat.

"Anna!?"

She grabbed my hand and glared at the reporter, "You should be ashamed of yourself. Can't you see she's a kid?"

She dragged me away, "Come on Peni, let's get you away from these vultures."

"Where's Dad?"

"Sweetie I don't know where your dad is but we need to get inside ASAP."

A barrage of camera flashes assaulted my eyes as I walked back through the carnage. Everything was black and burned. No machine was fully intact. The reporters called out to me.

"Tell us your name!"

"Do you work for Oscorp?"

"Are you really just a kid?"

Anna suddenly stopped in place and snarled, "No I'm a dwarf, you idiot!"

"I wasn't asking you!"

We kept walking. The fire at the top of Oscorp had been put out. I saw Aunt May and Uncle Ben in the distance.

"Anna..." I said, "where's Dad?"

"I don't know where he is. I thought he was in SP//dr."

"He said he was gonna protect me… then…"

"Well you're alive, right?"

"But he was outside when the explosion happened…"

She didn't reply. She didn't look at me. Aunt May and Uncle Ben weren't smiling. When we reached them they knelt down and hugged me together.

"Peni, thank god," Uncle Ben sighed in relief, "We thought you were dead too."

Aunt May rubbed my back, "You saved us."

I felt numb, "I didn't do anything. Dad saved you. Dad saved everyone."

"That's right," Uncle Ben agreed, "He was a hero."

"I couldn't see him in the wreckage. Is he in hospital?"

Aunt May's hands became still. Uncle Ben squeezed me tightly.

"I'm sorry, Peni-"

_No._

"-that explosion was powerful enough to… well… it was a powerful explosion-"

_No no no no no no no-_

"-it seems like he destroyed Otto, but… we couldn't detect any other life signs nearby. You're the only one that survived."

I went limp. Aunt May caught me in her arms.

"D…Daredevil…" I mumbled, "he was there. He must've saved him."

"You can tell us what happened when we get inside," Aunt May said, "We can sit down, get you a drink, check you for injuries."

"I don't wanna go inside, I wanna find Dad."

"Peni-"

"He has to be here! He has to be! Please!"

She looked me in the eyes, "Peni, he's gone. He's not here. He couldn't have possibly escaped that explosion. No one could. It's a miracle you're alive."

"But I saw him…"

"You can tell us all about it inside. We can write up a situation report, take stock of the damage."

"Take stock of the damage…?"

"Don't worry Peni, we'll be right beside you. Now come on, Mr. Osborn's waiting."

They each took one of my hands and walked me down the path towards Oscorp's main entrance. As we got inside we passed by the parking lot with the black walls and the bright lights. Dad's car was still there, untouched. Finally it dawned on me…

I was never gonna see him again.


	6. The Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, Peni's father sacrificed his life to save his daughter after Otto (the nickname for the rogue AI 'the Octavius System') coded himself into his brain. Now, Peni is having trouble letting go, and Mr. Osborn isn't making things any easier...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was meant to be the final chapter of this story! But... it became so long I had to split it in two! I wanted to post the two parts over two days one after the other, but I've injured my hand so I'm giving it a very short rest, and intend to upload the second half of the epilogue on Sunday or Monday (so far I've got 6.8k words written for it, and it's very near the end). This one's pretty heavy, like the last one, but I promise Peni gets the comfort she needs in the next chapter!
> 
> Thank you very much for sticking with this story (and for all your comments!) and I'll see you again on Sunday(-ish!)

Uncle Ben and Aunt May lived on a sunny, tree-lined street in Ditmars. Their spare room was very big, very spacious, and empty. When I woke up it was already midday. I'd sweated so much in the night that the covers were completely drenched. I kicked them off and walked over to the window. They lived on a real quiet street, one of those fancy streets, where the sidewalk was clean and all the cars sparkled in the afternoon sun. I closed the curtains.

Little pinpricks climbed up the back of my neck. I jumped in surprise, then I realized: it was just SP//dr. I'd almost forgotten he was there.

_How could I forget SP//dr?_

I felt tears well up in my eyes.

"No," I said under my breath, "I'm not gonna cry."

SP//dr crawled down my arm and I gently stroked him with my index finger. He was such a tiny little thing. Fragile. The feeling came back.

_No._

I looked at the bedroom door. I didn't want to open it. I thought about getting back into bed, but then I remembered the soggy covers and sat on the floor instead. It was hard, polished wood. _R_ _eal_ wood, a rarity in recent times thanks to widespread deforestation. I watched SP//dr fiddle with his legs.

I heard a buzzing, a short burst from under the bed. It was my phone - I had a message from Harry. Another person I'd forgotten about.

'Hey Peni,' the message said, 'I heard about your dad. Are you okay?'

I turned the phone back off and rested my head against the solid wood floor. I couldn't relax. I sat up again, holding my face in my hands. Then the tears came, rolling down my cheeks. Sobs filled my chest. I covered my mouth to keep the sound in, but it didn't help.

"Why…?"

I heard footsteps on the stairs. I froze.

_I can't let them see me like this._

Wiping the tears from my face I dashed over to the sweat-soaked bed and dived back in. I dragged the covers over me, closed my eyes, and stayed as still as I possibly could.

I heard the door slide open. A solitary footstep, quiet and soft. Then the visitor spoke,

"You still asleep, huh? I don't blame you."

It was Anna. I couldn't stop myself gasping in shock.

"Anna!?" I whispered.

She didn't seem surprised to learn that I was actually awake. She crept in and closed the door behind her. I rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Are Uncle Ben and Aunt May coming up too?"

"Nah, they're busy chatting with Mr. Osborn."

"He's here!?"

"No, they're having a holoconference. It's just you and me. Mind if I take this?" she replied, gesturing to a spindly wooden chair in the corner.

"I don't mind," in fact I hadn't even noticed it was there.

She dragged it over to the bed, wiped the dust off it, then sat down.

"How are you feeling?"

I didn't know how to reply to that. I sniffed. I felt snot dribble onto my lip from where my nose was clogged up before.

"Yeah," Anna noted, "I figured as much."

My throat felt blocked. Sobs threatened to force themselves out of me again. I looked down at my feet. SP//dr was on my leg now. I hadn't even thought to check before I threw myself onto the bed.

_I could've hurt him. I could've…_

"You did your Dad proud, Peni," Anna continued, "You know, we didn't talk much, but he always seemed nice. You could tell he a was a nice guy - and he clearly did a good job raising you."

I closed my eyes. I didn't wanna cry in front of Anna. I wasn't ready. I forced myself to speak.

"It's… it's my fault."

"What is?"

"I powered up Otto's cores."

"Peni, he tricked you."

"I let him trick me."

I started shaking.

"You were trying to do the right thing," she said, "You didn't ask him to do what he did."

"He infected my Dad's brain. I didn't even think of that. I didn't even… I didn't think that was possible."

"Nor did I. That's not something I taught him."

I looked into her eyes, "I don't want him to be gone, Anna. My dad. I don't-"

The sobs came back. I couldn't control them anymore. I let every ugly sob push itself out of my body, "It's not fair that he had to die. He didn't do anything wrong."

"I know, honey."

"I thought things were going so well…"

Tears blurred my vision, clouding my eyes again and again just as quickly as I wiped them away. I felt a pair of slender arms embrace me.

"It's alright," she said in a soft, soothing voice, "let it all out."

I don't know how long I sat there weeping into her shoulder. I cried for a long time. I cried until I had no more tears left. By the end of it I felt exhausted and empty. I wasn't ready when she pulled away.

"You'll get through this," she said, "it gets easier, I promise."

I wiped my eyes with my hands. I'd wiped them so much that they were already sore.

"I feel a bit better now… I think."

"Good. Sometimes you just gotta get these things out of your system, you know? Now…"

She stood up.

"Wait, where are you going?" I asked, panic rising in my chest.

"Sorry kid, I've got a job interview. At this rate I'm gonna be late, but I wanted to come and see you first."

"A job interview!? Don't you work for Oscorp?"

"Mr. Osborn fired me yesterday after you left with your Aunt and Uncle."

"What? Why?"

"I made Otto. Simple as that."

I felt dizzy, "But you didn't _deliberately_ make him like that! He-"

"Peni, it's okay, the man was a dick to work for anyway."

"But then who'll teach me? Am I never gonna see you again?"

She sat back down and placed her hands on my shoulders, "Slow down, kid. I may not be an Oscorp employee, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna kick you to the curb," she pointed to my feet, "Is that your phone?"

"What?"

"Under the bed."

"Oh… yeah…"

She reached down and grabbed it. Holding my phone in her left hand, and _her_ phone in her right, she brought the two devices together. They both let out a little beep.

"Now you've got my number. If you still want me to teach you, we can make it happen."

It was too much for me to process. I realized my mouth was hanging open, "I… I…"

"You can call me anytime, alright? If I don't answer, leave a message. It's the least I can do. You got that?"

I nodded.

"Good. I'm here for you, Peni. I'll speak to you again soon."

She opened the door and strode out with her usual confidence. Moments after she left, Uncle Ben poked his head round the corner.

"Peni?"

I looked at him. I could tell by his expression that I looked as much of a mess as I felt. He stepped into the room.

"I've been speaking with Mr. Osborn," he said. I cut him off.

"He fired Anna."

"…Yes, he… wasn't happy about what happened with Otto."

_It wasn't Anna's fault. It was-_

"Peni," he continued, staring off into the corner of the room, "we need to get the blueprints your Dad made. The ones for the SP//dr mech. Otto erased all the backups from the Oscorp computers."

"Where _is_ the mech?"

"It's still at Oscorp. They're trying to repair it but your father… well he was an incredible scientist Peni. None of us can figure out how he did it."

SP//dr crawled up my shirt and sat on my shoulder, "Why do you even want it? I thought only Dad could pilot it properly?"

"Well _you_ piloted it pretty well."

"I suppose."

It _did_ feel good to be in cockpit… at first.

"We got the keycard to your apartment from your dad's car. Mr. Osborn wants to search it immediately. I was wondering if you wanted to join us? We could get your stuff while we're there."

"Get my stuff…?"

"No one's been in the apartment yet. Everything is exactly where you left it."

I imagined my home, still and quiet. Empty. The tears came back.

"You can't search it," I said. Uncle Ben didn't reply. "You can't… you'll ruin it… I…"

"We need those blueprints, Peni. If they got into the wrong hands it could cause a lot of trouble."

"Let me search for them then."

"We can do it together, with Mr. Osborn."

The thought of Osborn tearing up my home made me feel sick to my stomach. I scrunched my hands up into fists, "Even if he found the stupid blueprints he wouldn't know what to do with them."

"Look, I know it's hard, but-"

"You don't know anything! Why does _he_ get to have the mech? It's _Dad's_ mech! _My_ mech!"

"Technically it's Oscorp's-"

"No! We built it _together_!"

"I _know_ that, but you have to understand-"

"No, no, no! He doesn't get to go in my house! He doesn't get to have my mech! _Dad's_ mech! He's gonna ruin the apartment and mess up Dad's room and then I'll never get it back to how it was again! I need to remember him, Uncle Ben! How will I remember him if it's all wrong! It's, he can't-"

"Peni, Mr. Osborn is going to get those blueprints. I'm sorry. You can come with me, or you can stay here with your Aunt May."

I stared at him in disbelief. My whole body was shaking with rage. I tried to speak but my throat was so tight only random squeaking noises came out.

"I'll give you a moment to think about it," he said with sigh, then he closed the door.

I immediately picked up the chair in front of my bed and flung it at the wall. It bounced harmlessly off of the solid stone and rolled across the floor. Unlike the floor, the chair wasn't made of real wood.

_Stupid chair. Stupid house. Stupid everything._

* * *

In the end I decided to join Uncle Ben on his visit to my apartment. His car was neat and tidy as always. I wondered what they were gonna do with Dad's car, but I didn't ask. I didn't wanna talk to anyone.

When we arrived Mr. Osborn was already there, waiting outside.

"Ah, Peni," he said, greeting me with his stern gaze, "I'm glad you joined us, and I'm sorry about your father. He died a hero."

Mr. Osborn offered me a sympathetic expression. I resisted the urge to mention how he fired Anna. He turned to my uncle, "I trust you have the keycard?"

"It's right here."

They opened the door and went in ahead of me. The TV was on, as usual.

"That's right folks, our city was saved by a grade schooler!" it said, "She single handedly killed both Stegron and the mysterious green monster the press are dubbing 'The Lizard'. Retailers have already started producing T-shirts for-"

I looked to see if one of the adults would turn it off, but they were down the hall, in my room.

_They don't even know where his study is._

I found the remote on the dining table where I'd left it two nights ago and turned the TV off. The sink was still full of yesterday's dirty dishes. Now they'd never get cleaned.

_No, don't think like that._

But it was too late. I could already see him in my mind's eye, see him pouring milk into my cereal bowl, hear his excitement about testing out the new sync mechanism.

' _Gonna be a big day'… that's what he said. A big day._

I put the remote down on the kitchen worktop. It didn't feel right. It didn't look right. _Nothing_ looked right. The sofa was there, the TV was there, our fridge, our sink, our tiny window, all of it was there, but it was _wrong_. It wasn't my house anymore. I could feel it. I could _feel_ his absence. I walked over to the sofa and crouched down in front of our games consoles. Our controls were all still there. Everything was normal, waiting for him to come back.

_But he won't._

As that thought penetrated my mind, Mr. Osborn and Uncle Ben came storming back down the hall.

"This must be the one then," Mr. Osborn said, as he barged into my Dad's room.

I followed close behind, immediately regretting not sneaking into his study before they found it. I watched as they peered over the tablet.

"Mhmm," Mr. Osborn said, "I think this might just be what we're looking for."

My plushy lion, which normally sat comfortably on my mom's old desk chair, was lying face down on the floor. I swept him into my arms and hugged him tightly while Mr. Osborn and Uncle Ben scrolled through the many pages of diagrams and calculations Dad and I had drawn up over the weekend.

Mr. Osborn growled in frustration, "Which one of these is the current model?"

"I'm not quite sure, sir."

"He didn't talk to you about it?"

"No, not me…"

Mr. Osborn looked over his shoulder. I felt SP//dr climb onto my cheek. Out of the corner of my eye I could see it raising its front legs, a display of aggression.

"Peni, you worked on this with your father, didn't you?"

I nodded.

"He told me you invented a lot of the improvements."

I nodded again.

He pointed at the tablet, "Which of these represents SP//dr's latest design?"

My throat was dry. I swallowed air, "Why should I tell you?"

His eyes widened at my reply, "Why _should_ you?"

"You're just gonna destroy it, right?"

Uncle Ben stepped forward, "Peni, we talked about this-"

Mr. Osborn held up a hand, "Let her speak, Ben. Peni, why do you think I want to destroy the blueprints?"

"You fired Anna."

"Of course I did! She designed the AI that killed your father, what else was I supposed to do?"

I flinched at the word 'killed'.

"It wasn't her fault…"

" _Someone_ had to manually connect all his cores, and whoever did it enabled the near-destruction of my company. She's lucky that the _only_ thing I'm doing is firing her."

I felt my legs start to tremble.

"Anyway," he continued, "she's not important anymore. There are plenty more scientists where she came from, but there's only one SP//dr, and only one _you_."

I squeezed the plushy against my chest, "Only one me…?"

"Yes. You're the only person still here who _really_ knows how that mech works. Am I wrong?"

"I dunno…"

"I know I'm not wrong. Your father was an exceptional scientist, Peni. That's why I put him in charge of the psychogenetic bonding project. There's no one else like him - except you."

"So if I tell you how it works… what will you do?"

"What do you _want_ me to do?"

Even Uncle Ben looked confused.

"Sir, I thought-"

Mr. Osborn held up his hand again.

_What_ **do** _I want?_

"I…"

His eyes burned into me. SP//dr bristled on my cheek. I was starting to realize why Dad never got along with his boss.

"I… I want…"

I thought about the happy weekend spent with Dad, working together, inventing improvement after improvement for SP//dr. I could hear his voice praising me for my ideas. All at once, I realized what I wanted.

"I wanna pilot the mech."

Mr. Osborn didn't even blink. Uncle Ben, however…

"Peni that's ridiculous. You nearly _died_ fighting Stegron!"

"Don't be so hasty, Ben. She _did_ defeat it, after all."

"But sir, she's _eight_."

"For _now_ , yes. But she won't be a child forever."

I took a step closer, "I wanna have the mech to myself. I wanna work on it whenever I want. You can't keep it at Oscorp. You have to give it to me, completely."

Mr. Osborn laughed, "And is that your _final_ offer?"

"I won't tell you anything if you don't give it to me. It's my dad's creation, and I'm gonna take care of it."

He leaned on his knees, still towering over me, "Your father was a hero Peni, but he never owned that mech."

"He did too!"

"Hold on, let me finish! Although he never _owned_ it, I'm happy to let you _use_ it as much as you want. I know how much it means to you."

I scowled at him, "That's not good enough."

"You don't back down easy, do you?" he smirked, "I like it. Alright, if you want it that badly, you can have it. Completely, just like you asked - but on one condition: if anything ever attacks Oscorp again, you have to protect us like you did last time. As for the repairs, well, show me those blueprints and I'll let you make use of the labs as much as you want."

I didn't expect him to actually give in to my demands, "Really? You'll just let me have it?"

"Why not?" he said, throwing his arms wide open, "Everyone in New York knows that mech and its pilot saved the city from total destruction, and everyone _also_ knows it was made by Oscorp. You'd be doing me a favor."

Uncle Ben couldn't hide his exasperation, "With all due respect Mr. Osborn, she's still only a child. I can help her repair the mech, so maybe we should find another pilot to-"

I didn't let him finish, "I'll do it."

They both looked at me, Uncle Ben in stunned disbelief, Mr. Osborn in smug satisfaction.

"I wanna be a hero. I want everyone in the city to know my name, to know my _mech's_ name. It's why Dad made it, to protect people, to make the world a better-"

"Excellent," Mr. Osborn replied, "I knew you'd come through in the end."

I gritted my teeth, "I'm not doing it for _you_."

My rebuke didn't seem to mar his victorious mood, "Of course, and I wouldn't expect you to. Does an artist paint for the sake of a gallery? No, but the gallery is what puts the bread on the table. Your father didn't always agree with me either, but he knew that Oscorp's technology provided a net good to this world. In time I'm sure you'll realize that too."

Uncle Ben scratched the back of his head, "So, you're giving her the mech?"

"I'll have it delivered to your house this evening."

"But where will we store it?"

"Not my problem. Just let me know when it's fixed."

"We still don't know for sure whether we can-"

"I know what I said. Now, Peni," he motioned for me to join him, "show me what I need to download."

* * *

Mr. Osborn left as soon he'd got the data he wanted.

"The mech will be sent out within the hour. I'll be in touch," he said as he got into his fancy car.

Then he was gone, and it was just me and Uncle Ben left in my apartment.

Uncle Ben rested his hands on his hips, "Well, as we're here, maybe we should start moving your stuff."

I kinda knew it was coming. I knew I couldn't just go back home. I knew Dad wouldn't be there waiting for me. I knew it, but it hurt all the same.

Normally you could just instantly transport things from one home to another via each home's receiver, but ours broke the day we brought SP//dr back. That meant everything had to be piled into Uncle Ben's car. We started with my room. There wasn't a lot in it. We took my VR headset, some (synthetic) paper books, my tablet (also full of books), my favorite pillow and an old blanket I used to wrap around myself when I was little. I also took my laptop, even though it was scratched up and missing several keys. We cleared the room out as completely as we could. By the time we were done it was just a carcass, a skeleton of its former self. It felt alien.

I turned to leave, and as I did I saw marks on the door frame. Little black lines with numbers written next to them.

_Wow… I almost forgot about these._

They went from '3' to '6'.

_That's right, I wasn't any taller on my seventh birthday._

I stood in front of the lines and put my palm flat on top of my head. I moved away, keeping my palm against the frame. My hand was just above the '6' line. I'd finally grown taller.

"I wonder what Dad would've said…"

I couldn't imagine it. I couldn't think of what he'd say. I started to panic.

_Why can't I hear him? I can't be forgetting already, right? That can't happen._

I took a deep breath, and SP//dr stroked my cheek, comforting me. Then I spotted a pen lying on the floor. With fresh tears in my eyes I crouched down, grabbed it, and took off the lid. I stood in front of the door frame again. After measuring my height with my hand I drew in one, final line, and put '8' next to it.

"It's not fair…" I sobbed, "he should be here."

I lifted my phone and took a photo. Then I took a photo of my room. I regretted not taking one when it was full of my stuff, but even a photo of it empty was better than nothing. Then I remembered Uncle Ben was moving things out of the living room. I dashed down the hall and caught him just as he was carrying the games consoles out the front door.

"Wait!" I yelled. He paused, looking over his shoulder.

"Put them back where you found them."

He looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"Please Uncle Ben. I need to take a photo of everything as it is. I wanna remember it."

He thought about it for a moment, then he carried everything back inside. He put the box down in front of the sofa.

"I'm not sure I remember exactly where these were…" he explained.

"It's okay. I do."

I grabbed the consoles one by one and put them back in their places, making sure not to disturb even the dust sitting around them.

_It needs to be exactly like it was… exactly as it_ **should** _be._

When everything was in its right place I pulled out my phone and opened up the camera app. I took a photo of every part of the room from every angle I could think of.

_I have to remember. I have to remember it like it is now._

I thought having a record of my apartment would make me feel better, but with each photo I took my Dad's absence just became more and more obvious. Eventually I realized that there was no use in taking any more photographs, and I flopped onto the sofa in defeat.

"Can I take these to the car now?" Uncle Ben asked.

_No._

"I guess so…"

I didn't look as he dragged them off the shelves they were sitting on. I thought about the smell of my sofa. After we left I was never gonna smell it again. Nowhere would smell like my home did. Nowhere could replace it. Once I left that was it. It was gone. It was…

Uncle Ben was still outside when I finally got back up off the sofa. I kept my eyes on the floor and wandered across the tired, old carpet. Soon I was standing in front of the last room we needed to clear out: Dad's study. The tablet carved into his desk stared at me quietly from the shadows.

I wasn't ready. But this was my last chance to see his room without anyone else getting in the way. I took a deep breath and stepped through the door.

It was quiet. Totally quiet.

_Of course it is, you dummy._

I hardly ever went in his study, but over the weekend it'd become as familiar as my own room. If I closed my eyes I could still see him there in bed, sound asleep.

_I'm gonna cry again._

I wiped my eyes and got down on my knees. I didn't wanna miss anything he'd hidden under his bed. I couldn't leave anything behind. Everything had to come with me. I pulled out my phone again and turned on the built-in torch. As I shone it under the bed I saw a bunch of boxes, some random garbage, old books. I pulled it all out and piled it in front of me. I thought about searching through it all there and then, but Uncle Ben could come back any minute and I didn't wanna waste the time I had. I stood up and walked over to Dad's pillow. I stroked it with the palm of my hand, then I leaned over and buried my face in it. I climbed onto his bed. It smelled like him. I could feel the dip in the mattress, outlining the position he normally slept in.

"Peni?"

I rolled onto my side. Uncle Ben was standing in the doorway. He gave me a sympathetic look.

I wasn't ready.

* * *

Somehow we fitted all of Dad's belongings into Uncle Ben's car. I kept my eyes fixed on the solitary sofa hiding in the living room as Uncle Ben pulled the door closed. Then that was it. Locked, sealed, finished.

"Right," he said, turning to face me, "I guess the only thing left to do now is go home."

_Home…_ I thought as we flew off into the forest of skyscrapers. The route to Uncle Ben and Aunt May's house was a lot like the route to my school. In the end I could've stayed at my old school. In the end I _should_ have.

_If I hadn't freed Otto…_

There wasn't much space in the car. My face was squished against the window by the mountain of boxes on the seat beside me. My whole life, right there, packaged up and taped shut. As I started to drift into another string of depressing thoughts one of the boxes slid off of its perch and whacked me in the head.

"Ow!"

"Sorry!" Uncle Ben said, "Had to make a bit of a tight turn there."

* * *

Aunt May answered the door before we even rung the bell.

"It's in the back yard," she said, "right on top of my daffodils."

"Ah," Uncle Ben replied sheepishly, "sorry about that."

I walked past my aunt and took off my shoes. As I walked towards the faux-wood stairs she asked, "Don't you wanna see your mech, Peni?"

I stopped and thought about it. I thought about it empty. I thought about Dad stepping out of it, into the explosion.

"No, not yet…"

I continued up the stairs. I heard Aunt May call out, "I'll bring your stuff up for you in a minute!"

I didn't reply. I went to the spare room and sunk into the bed. It was still damp.

"Great…"

SP//dr scampered up and down my arm. I lifted my hand over my head and he made a little web, sliding down onto my nose. I resisted the urge to sneeze.

"He can't be dead, right? Not like totally dead?"

SP//dr sat still on the tip of my nose.

"Even if he got exploded, maybe he's still in the mech somewhere. If Otto could upload himself into Dad, then maybe Dad could upload himself into SP//dr. The mech, not you."

SP//dr crawled down my neck and sat on my breastbone.

"Or maybe he _is_ in you… is he in you, SP//dr?"

I felt my heart start to beat faster, "If you're there Dad, then… then bite me! SP//dr would never bite me by himself, so if you can hear me-"

My bedroom door swung open. I jolted in shock. It was Aunt May, carrying a stack of boxes.

"I'll be back," she said as she carefully placed them on the floor.

SP//dr continued to chill on my chest. He didn't bite. I kept my mouth shut as I heard Aunt May walk down the stairs.

_I hope she didn't hear me._

If she did hear me she didn't mention it as she came back up with more boxes of belongings. By the time she was done you could barely see the floor under all the stuff.

"There," she said with a satisfied sigh, "all done."

I just stared at it, the sea of boxes. It was gonna be a nightmare to unpack. I didn't have the energy for that.

"I'm making cashew chicken tonight," she told me, "it'll be ready in about an hour."

"Chicken…? I'm actually vegetarian. Sort of. I only just started, but…"

" _Vegetarian_ …? You should've said, honey. Hmm… what will you eat, then?"

"It's okay, I'm not hungry."

"No, no, I'm not having any of that. You need to _eat_."

"It's fine, really."

"I'll think of something," she said, rushing out the door, "come downstairs in about an hour!"

Her footsteps faded away, and soon it was just me and SP//dr again, along with the ocean of boxes. I thought about opening them up. But then I thought better of it.

_It can wait_.

* * *

"Sorry Peni, it's the best I could do with what we have," Aunt May explained as I stared at the plate of salad in front of me, "tomorrow we can go shopping and get you some real food."

Uncle Ben stabbed a chunk of chicken with his fork, "Never knew you were vegetarian. Unusual for a kid your age."

I picked up my cutlery and started chewing on some lettuce.

"If you need any help unpacking your stuff," he continued, "just let me know. I won't be doing any work for the next few weeks, what with Oscorp getting repairs and all, so it's no problem."

I shook my head. He nodded and looked away. We ate in silence for a while longer. I realized halfway through a chunk of carrot that I wasn't hungry, at all. I put my knife and fork down.

Aunt May looked concerned, "Are you okay, Peni?"

"I don't think I can eat any more."

She looked disappointed, "I overdid the dressing, didn't I?"

"No, I'm just… not hungry."

"But you haven't eaten all day!"

"I know."

Uncle Ben continued eating his chicken quietly. I lowered my eyes to my half-full plate. I felt bloated just looking at it. SP//dr seemed to be enjoying himself though; he was happily nibbling at the seed of a half-eaten mini tomato.

"Can I go look at the mech?" I asked.

"The mech?" Aunt May replied, "In the backyard? It's starting to get dark, I don't know how much you'd be able to see of it."

"My phone has a torch."

"Are you sure you don't wanna eat any more?"

I shook my head.

"Okay sweetheart."

_Sweetheart…_

The image of my Dad being engulfed by the explosion shot through my mind. I closed my eyes and clenched my hands into fists.

Uncle Ben's voice, "Peni?"

I pushed my chair out and stood up, "I'm sorry about the food."

"It's fine, we can always buy-"

I hurried out of the dining room before he could finish his sentence, just barely keeping myself together. I wasn't sure where the backdoor was but I could guess. I walked down the tiled hallway and soon found what I was looking for. To my surprise, it was unlocked.

_I guess round here they don't have to worry about drunks barging in._

Their backyard was huge, at least to me. Even in the darkness it looked as big as my entire apartment. A stone pathway stretched out into the shadows past some trees and little flower gardens. It probably looked pretty during the day.

I began creeping along the path. Though I couldn't yet see it, I knew the mech was out here somewhere. I pulled out my phone and looked for the torch app. As I swiped through my huge list of apps something stroked my elbow. I froze, breathing in sharply. Then I felt the tell-tale tickle of little arachnid legs dancing across my arm, making my hairs stand on end. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw SP//dr sitting on my hand, looking up at me innocently.

"You scared me," I said with a sigh.

I continued walking. The city lights stared down at me from the wall of skyscrapers surrounding the neighborhood, glittering in the darkness like neon stars. I could just about make out the mech's silhouette in the artificial glow.

"There."

I shone my torch over its metal frame. It'd taken a beating, that's for sure, but it was in a lot better condition than I expected. There were a few cracks in the glass here and there, a dent or two, and of course it was still missing its arm, but all in all it wasn't too far from being battle-ready.

I gently dropped SP//dr on my shoulder and let my body go slack against the mech's ice cold exterior. I stretched my arms out, giving it a kind of hug. My chest ached all over.

"I'll get you fixed up," I promised, "Make you good as new. I hope you're still in there somewhere, Dad. Please be in there."

I stepped back and examined it again. It looked so empty. Dead.

_No._

I shook my head and pried the front panel open. Apart from some dislodged gizmos in the ceiling, the interior was almost entirely intact. I sat on the chair and pulled the panel closed behind me. As soon as it clicked into place the dull hum of the wind and cars and never-sleeping city outside disappeared, leaving me in total silence. I leaned back into the seat. The neural amplifiers were still out. I cupped them to my ears, but nothing happened. I tried booting the mech up but none of the buttons worked. I felt SP//dr settle on my neck.

"I guess it won't work without you huh?"

He didn't reply. But then, how could he?

"You used to be able to talk to Dad, right? He said you could communicate."

I remembered how Dad saved me from the falling arch outside Central Park.

"Did you tell him to do that, too?"

SP//dr didn't move. Then I remembered the internal entrance to SP//dr's cockpit. I span around in the seat and sat on my knees as I shone the torch across the back of the mech, looking for the access hatch. It didn't take long to find it.

"Bingo."

I pulled it open and held SP//dr out towards it.

"Come on buddy, do it for me."

But he didn't wanna go in.

"I promise it's safe."

I dipped my fingers into his cockpit. He tiptoed down, peering into the little box illuminated by my torch. Although my head was swimming with thoughts of speaking to Dad again, I didn't rush him. Eventually he crawled inside. I very slowly shut the hatch and locked it in place. Then I turned back to the controls.

"If Otto could put himself in Dad, Dad could put himself in here. That must be how the sync thing works."

_I hope._

I started the mech up. Immediately the cockpit was flooded with a rainbow of flashing lights. SP//dr's cute emoji face popped onto the screen. He looked surprised. I could feel myself getting more and more excited by the minute.

"It works! It still works!"

SP//dr smiled. I was ecstatic. It really worked!

I took the neural amplifiers, placed them over my ears, closed my eyes, and waited. And waited… and waited.

"Is it working yet?"

SP//dr looked confused at my question. I took the amplifiers off. Nothing changed. I felt the same as when I had them on.

"Something isn't right."

_This isn't how it's meant to be. Last time I could literally_ **feel** _the mech like it was my body._

I looked at the mech's vitals on the virtual touchscreen and my stomach dropped to the floor.

"The synchronization engine is busted."

SP//dr frowned. I sunk into the chair, staring out towards Aunt May and Uncle Ben's house at the other end of the garden.

"It's not _totally_ busted though… right?"

I enlarged the image. The virtual touchscreen displayed the sync engine in a deep, foreboding red.

"Even if it was damaged, he could still be in there. He built it. There's gotta be a part of him in here. I just need to fix it. But… I don't remember how."

Mr. Osborn had the blueprints. The only other copy was on Dad's tablet.

_I should've downloaded it onto my phone. Why didn't I do that!?_

I punched my own leg.

"Stupid! Stupid, stupid!"

I held my head in my hands, "If I could just fix it… if I can fix it, he's gotta be there. I'm gonna have to ask Mr. Osborn for the blueprints back."

_No, I don't need them. SP//dr is the one that solved the equation anyway, not me, or Dad, or Mr. Osborn._

I de-powered the mech. The cockpit went dark. I turned my phone's torch back on and unlocked the little door to SP//dr's personal cockpit. He immediately scurried up my arm and onto my shoulder.

"What's wrong?" I asked, petting him as softly as I could, "don't you like being in there?"

_Maybe it's cos I'm not bonded with him. He can only bond with one person, after all._

That was a painful thought. Did that mean I'd never be able to ride in the mech with SP//dr without making him uncomfortable?

_Don't be an idiot. It worked fine last time. He probably just likes my shoulder._

I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes.

"Why can't you be here, Dad? Like, really here?"

I wrapped my arms around myself in a makeshift hug. It felt empty.

"What should I do? Even if I repair the sync engine…"

_Even if I repair it… there's no guarantee Dad's really in the mech. What if it was broken before he died?_

"Stop it," I told myself, "he's not dead, he's just-"

_Gone._

"No… no he's…"

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the window. I leapt out of my seat and smacked my head into the ceiling.

"Owwwwww!"

Outside was Uncle Ben. I swung the front panel open and glared at him, "You scared me!"

"I'm sorry, Peni," he said with a little chuckle, "it's just your aunt asked me to check on you. It's late."

I folded my arms across my chest, "I normally stay up late."

"You've had a long day."

"I'm not tired."

"We can unpack your stuff tomorrow."

"I don't wanna unpack it."

"What do you mean you don't wanna unpack it?"

"I'm… well, I just don't, okay!"

"Okay, fine, if that's what you want. But I won't be free to help you once Oscorp starts back up again."

"Screw Oscorp," I huffed, barging past him.

"Peni, I know you're upset but that doesn't mean you can take it out on me."

I stopped in my tracks and looked back at him, "I'm not upset."

He sighed, "You've just lost your father. Anyone would be upset in your position."

" _You're_ not upset."

He didn't reply. He just stared at me with a defeated look on his face. I started walking away.

"We had our disagreements, but he was still my brother. I loved him. I love you, too."

I stopped again, but I didn't look back. I couldn't. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I thought of saying something, but there were no words to say. I clenched my fists and kept on walking. When I got inside Aunt May was in the dining room, cleaning up. Our eyes met as I walked to the stairs but she didn't say anything. When I reached the spare room it was just as I'd left it. I collapsed onto the bed.

"Wait… is this…?"

The bed was dry. The sheets smelled fresh, too.

_They changed them while I was out._

I kicked my shoes off. They flew across the room and clattered against the wall. I felt SP//dr crawl up into my hair. He seemed to really like my hair, maybe cos it was warm, and dark. A lot of spiders like dark, closed-in spaces. It makes them feel safe.

I got under the covers and pulled them right over my head, till I was in a blanket cocoon. SP//dr was right: dark, confined spaces really did feel safer.

_Tomorrow I'll fix the mech. I'll get Dad back. He's in there… I just need to find him, one way or another._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Peni... it cuts me deep to write sad things happening to her. Why do all the Spider-People have such tragic beginnings!? 
> 
> Thankfully SP//dr will always be there for her! I'll give you all the conclusion to my take on Peni's origin soon! Hopefully Monday at latest :D I promise I won't leave your heart (totally) broken ;) 
> 
> Until then!


	7. Trinity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter Peni started to come to terms with her father's death, but it was made more difficult when she had to start emptying out her old home. Unable to accept that her father is gone, she becomes determined to try and find any traces of him left in the mech.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a day late but it's actually a miracle I got it done! I didn't expect there to be 3000 more words to this chapter when I posted chapter 6 but holy moly did this bad boy balloon. It's about 10k words, so it's long, but I can't split it down. With this, my take on Peni's origin is complete! Thank you all so, so much for reading, and for your comments, and for everything. The next story in this series will be all about how Peni meets the Spider-fam, and her villain (unless I for some reason drastically change my mind) will be Mysterio! 
> 
> I triple-checked this one for typos by using text-to-speech, and boy does that thing hate to pronounce 'SP//dr'! In its opinion, it's pronounced ESS, PEE, SLASH, SLASH, DOCTOR :D
> 
> Oh and in case anyone was wondering who the heck Anna Maria Marconi is, she's a side character introduced in the 'Superior Spider-Man' story in the comics, which is a story where Doc Ock takes over Peter's body! One of my favourite stories and one of my favourite side characters, so I just HAD to use her here. Probably should've explained earlier hahaha!
> 
> Thanks again for all your support, and I hope you enjoy the conclusion to this story!

I woke up in my old room. At first I couldn't believe it, but as my eyes adjusted I realized there could be no mistake: this was my old room, and I was in it. My laptop watched over me from atop my desk like it always did, and my bedroom door was just slightly ajar, to let the light from the hallway in. I wanted to cry in relief.

_It was all a dream…?_

I tried to sit up… but I couldn't move. No matter how hard I pushed, my body stayed exactly where it was. I tried to scream, but no sound came out. Then I realized: my eyelids were still closed. I could feel them against my eyes, feel the way my arms were flat against the bed, feel the blanket on my face. I forced my eyes open, and my old room flickered in and out of view. I managed to open my mouth. I breathed in. Then with all the strength I could muster I pushed myself up. The blanket fell off of my head and I was once again confronted with Uncle Ben and Aunt May's spare room.

"It was just a dream."

SP//dr crawled out of my hair and onto my cheek. I took in the boxes. The room was full of them. All my stuff. All of Dad's stuff.

_I'm not unpacking it. I'm gonna find Dad and we're gonna go back home._

I rolled out of bed, realizing that I'd fallen asleep in my day clothes yet again.

"Whatever."

Sunlight streamed in through the curtains. I didn't open them. I took my phone without checking the time and left my room to work on the mech.

Aunt May caught me at the bottom of the stairs.

"Good morning, sleepyhead! Come to the kitchen and I'll make you some breakfast."

"I'm gonna look at the mech."

"The mech can wait."

She took my hand and tugged me into the kitchen. I sat down on a stool in front of a big kitchen island while she rummaged through the cupboards.

"Do you like All Bran?"

"Uh… no."

"How about Wheatos?"

"Chocolate Wheatos?"

"No, just the normal Wheatos."

"…do you have Chocolate UFOs?"

"I don't think so. I can check?"

"No, that's okay…"

She leaned on the island and shot me a smile, "How about some fruit? We've got bananas."

"Just bananas?"

"And apples, and some oranges."

That didn't sound too bad.

"Okay, I'll have one of each."

"Help yourself. You can always have more if you want more," she said as she slid a bowl overflowing with fruit in front of me.

The fruit was good but it wasn't the same as my favorite cereal. I wasn't hungry before I started and I didn't feel full after I finished. When I was done I got up and pushed the stool back into place, but before I could leave, Aunt May said, "Oh I almost forgot! Mr. Osborn's son called earlier."

"Harry did? Why? He could've just sent me a message."

"He said he couldn't get through."

I checked my phone. Sure enough, he'd left me dozens of messages. Just reading them was exhausting. I left him a simple reply.

'don't worry about me. i'm okay. i'll message you later.'

Then I went out to the backyard.

* * *

As I stood there in front of the mech, the first thing I realized was that without any tools, there was nothing I could do.

The second thing I realized was that I didn't even know where to start with repairing the sync engine.

"Maybe Uncle Ben and Aunt May have something I can use."

They did, though they were reluctant to let me use their stuff unsupervised, that is until I explained in great detail how the tools themselves were constructed. It didn't seem to ease their minds, but it did convince them enough to let me handle the mech by myself. Just as well, because I had no intention of letting anyone else repair it. Dad was relying on me, I was the only other person on Earth who understood it like he did. Well, apart from SP//dr.

Back outside, and now armed with the appropriate equipment, I set to work dismantling SP//dr's interior. The sync engine was deep inside the mech to protect it from damage, which made it all the stranger that it was the _only_ thing to be so seriously damaged in the fight with Otto.

_I'll figure it out later._

After unscrewing some panels and cutting through a reinforced shell with a compact heat saw I finally uncovered the sync engine. Immediately I could see the problem: all the little connectors and delicate components carefully welded to it had melted into a puddle of oozy sludge. It was completely unusable.

"How!? How did it melt!?"

_Otto must've done it._

But if the sync engine was melted, then how did it even register that Otto was in Dad's brain? Did it melt after that? My mind was swimming with unanswerable questions. The only person who could conclusively answer them was dead.

_No! Not dead. Not dead._

The sync engine had been my last hope, and it was completely beyond repair. There was no way any data could still be in it.

I put my tools down and took a deep breath. Even if _I_ couldn't solve the problem, that didn't mean it was _unsolvable_. With the right tools, anything was possible. Still, going to Oscorp wasn't an option till the lab got fixed…

_Then where?_

The answer came to me almost as soon as I asked the question.

"Anna…"

* * *

"You wanna _what_!?" she said after I explained the situation over the phone.

"I just figured maybe your new workplace might have the stuff I need."

"How did you even know I got the job?"

"I didn't _know_ , but…"

"Look, kid, I've not even had my first _day_ yet. I can't exactly ask them for this kinda favor."

"Please, Anna! What if Dad's still in there? I know it's crazy, but if he's in there I can't-"

"That's not how those things work, Peni."

"But he's the only one who could know for sure! No one else understood it. I still don't understand it."

"Then how are you gonna fix it?"

"I'm not. SP//dr is."

"Wait, hold up, the _spider_ is gonna do it?"

"The mech still works. Once I've got the other arm back in place I can let SP//dr manipulate the mech, maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I don't know! But I have to try!"

She sighed, "Peni, I-"

"Anna, I'm begging you!" I said, unable to hold back my tears any longer, "Can you just ask? If they say no I won't ever mention it again, I promise. You can tell them I made you ask. I need him, Anna, I need him back."

"Alright, I'll _ask_ , but kid, I don't think this is gonna go like you expect it."

"I have to try."

"What're you gonna do if he's not in there?"

"Well, I… I dunno…"

"I'm not tryin' to hurt you, I'm just saying, like-"

"No, I know."

"I'm here for you, you know? Even if he's gone-"

"He's not gone yet."

"Right, yeah."

"So you'll ask?"

"I'll ask 'em, but no promises."

"Thank you, Anna."

"It's fine. Just, don't get your hopes up, alright?"

"I won't."

"Alright. Catch you later."

* * *

I spent the rest of the morning just buffing out the scuffs and dents in the mech. Even the cracks in the cockpit window could be fixed with a bit of expanding gel. Then Aunt May called me.

"Peni! Come here for a minute!"

She asked me to help pick out what food to order for the week.

"I don't want you going hungry."

I told her to order lots of Chocolate UFOs and candy. She got the chocolate UFOs.

"What about for dinner?"

"No spinach."

"Broccoli?"

"No broccoli either. Can you get pizza?"

"I can _make_ pizza."

So she ordered pizza ingredients, along with a bunch of other vegetarian-friendly things, and within a few minutes the entire load zapped into place inside their enormous receiver.

I couldn't believe my eyes, "That's like… ten times as big as ours."

Uncle Ben laughed, "It's not the biggest I've seen, but it does the trick."

I didn't wanna help put the shopping away, so while Aunt May and Uncle Ben opened up the receiver's glass door I dashed back out to the backyard. They didn't come for me. I got into the mech, closed the front hatch, and got to work sprucing up the interior. SP//dr helped by winding up all the dust into a neat little ball.

"Thanks, SP//dr."

By the time we were done the sun was beginning to set. It'd taken a while but somehow I'd fixed everything but for the arm and the sync engine. I sat in the pilot's chair and admired my work.

"Do you think they'll let me sleep in here?" I asked SP//dr, who was sitting on top of my hand. He looked at me quizzically.

"I'll take that as a no."

Then I felt my phone buzz. It was Anna.

"Hello?"

"Peni? I can't talk right now but I wanted to let you know that I asked the guys at work about helping you out."

My heart was pounding in my chest, "What did they say?"

"My boss thinks it's a great idea. He said he'd love to meet you."

"Really!?"

"Can you come tomorrow?"

"Absolutely! What time?"

"Morning, preferably early. I take it you've told your aunt and uncle about this?"

"Uh, yeah."

"You don't sound certain."

"I'm totally certain! I'll be there in the morning, one-hundred percent! Where is it?"

"The Reed Richards Science Center. Do you know where it is?"

"I think so!"

"Are you sure?"

"I can look it up on my phone if I get lost."

"Or you could ask your Aunt or Uncle for help."

"Yeah. If I need to."

"Alright, I'll wait for you at the main reception so just message me when you're heading over."

"Got it!"

"And obviously, bring the mech. If you can, anyway."

"I've fixed it, mostly. All it needs is the sync engine. Oh, and another arm."

"You didn't mention the arm before."

"I forgot."

"You forgot a whole arm?"

"If you could get me the materials I could make another one."

"I can't ask him for any more than I have, kid. You'll have to mention that one yourself."

"I will. I'll see you tomorrow morning, then! Thank you so much, Anna."

"Hey, it's the least I can do, right? Anyway, gotta go, I'm cooking _Bucatini all'Amatriciana_ and my pasta's about to go mushy!"

"Okay, bye!"

She hung up before I even finished saying 'okay'. I grinned at my phone like an idiot.

_I can't believe it really worked. I don't even have to use Oscorp's labs._

"We're gonna do it, SP//dr!" I cheered, holding him up in the air, "We're gonna get Dad back!"

* * *

Aunt May wasn't so pleased, "You never told us about this, Peni."

"It's not like Anna's a stranger."

"It's not about Anna. That mech belongs to Oscorp, you can't just take it to a rival company and show them how it works."

"Mr. Osborn gave it to _me_. It's _mine_ now. Besides, it was never his. Dad made it."

"I know he _made_ it, but Mr. Osborn _owns_ it. We can't take it to another lab without his permission. It could get us fired, or even sued. Wait till the Oscorp labs are open again in a few weeks and we'll fix it there."

"But that's ages away!"

"I'm sorry Peni, I know the mech means a lot to you, but-"

"No, you don't know! That mech is the only part of Dad I have left in the whole world, and you want me to leave it all broken!"

"I'm just asking you to wait a few weeks."

"But it could be too late by then!"

"Too late for what?"

"Just… it…well…"

I couldn't tell them the real reason I was so desperate to get it fixed. I knew what they'd say if I did, they'd say 'he's gone', 'it won't work', 'it's impossible'. They'd never let me fix it if I told them the truth.

"I know it feels urgent now," she said softly, "but whatever it is you wanna do, I'm sure it can wait. The mech isn't going anywhere."

My throat felt tight, "You don't understand."

"Trust me, I do. I can still remember when I lost _my_ father."

"That's not what I mean!"

"Peni, calm down."

"I need to fix the mech!"

"You can, when Oscorp is back up and running."

"No!"

She crossed her arms, "I'm sorry Peni, but you are _not_ taking it to that science center. I can't let you. It's for your own good."

Uncle Ben stood silently in the background, awkwardly staring at the wall. I called out to him, "You understand me Uncle Ben, right?"

He kept his mouth shut. Aunt May gave me a serious look.

"Ugh, fine! Fine! I won't go!" I huffed.

"You'll understand when you're older."

I stormed up the stairs and slammed my bedroom door shut.

_You're wrong. You'll never get it._

I had no intention of staying in their awful spare room. I was going to see Anna tomorrow whether they liked it or not.

* * *

My alarm went off at 7am. I rolled out of bed right away, so quickly that I stomped one of my feet right through the top of one of the cardboard boxes.

"Ugh."

I didn't have time to waste. I tore off my PJs and put on my polka dot dress, which I'd unpacked last night in preparation for my trip. Dad always said I should wear it more. That day he'd told me:

"You can never stand out too much…"

Not good advice for a stealth mission, but it was comfy, and it reminded me of why I was making the trip in the first place.

"I'm gonna bring you back, Dad. I promise."

With my backpack strapped over my shoulders I slowly inched open my door. From the looks of things it seemed like Aunt May and Uncle Ben were still in their bedroom. I tiptoed out onto the landing, keeping my breathing as quiet as possible. My heart was so loud in my ears I felt like the whole hallway could hear it. I took a few more tiny steps forward, then I began my descent down the stairs. I lowered my feet gently, one at a time, so that my footsteps didn't make even the smallest sound. It helped that I also had very small feet. SP//dr watched closely from my shoulder, staying perfectly still while I crept down to the ground floor.

I reached the bottom faster than I expected. Looking around, I could see the kitchen and the dining room and the path to the backyard. The back door had been unlocked yesterday but I couldn't rely on it staying that way overnight.

_I need their keycards._

Then I saw the alarm system.

_Oh no…_

It was blinking over by the front door. There was a button to disable it, but you needed to input a code first. I'd never even seen them input the code.

_If I set off the alarm I'll never get to see Anna._

Suddenly SP//dr swooped off of my shoulder and onto the ceiling.

"SP//dr!?" I whisper-shouted as he scurried towards the alarm box. I watched in amazement as he webbed up four numbers in sequence.

"Nine… eight…two…three…?"

_It might need a fingerprint too, though…_

If it needed anything more than a code then there was no way I'd be getting out of the house silently. But I had no choice. I only had one shot at fixing the mech on time, and this was it.

I ran over to the box and quickly keyed in the numbers. A little light in the corner of the box flashed from red to amber.

"What do I do? What do I do?"

SP//dr crawled towards the button I noticed in the beginning.

"Of course!"

I pressed my thumb into it and the amber light turned green. The alarm was off.

I sighed in relief, "You saved my butt, SP//dr."

He crawled back up my arm and took his place on my shoulder. It was time to go.

* * *

Aunt May and Uncle Ben left their key cards right by the front door in a little box along with their wallets.

_They really_ **really** _don't get people breaking in much around here, huh._

The back door was locked, but with the key cards, opening it was trivial. I couldn't close it silently, but the little clunk it made was quiet enough that I didn't expect my aunt or uncle to hear it. Still, I couldn't shake the urge to look back over my shoulder as I headed towards the mech, just in case one of them had come out to follow me.

The mech was just as I left it, with the half-melted sync engine sitting on the floor. I was planning on building a new one, but if they could fix the old one then all the better. Even if they couldn't, it's not like I could just throw it away.

_Dad could be in there somewhere._

It was a long shot, but it was all I had left. I put SP//dr in his little cockpit (he went in without hesitation this time) and sat down in the pilot's chair. Then I pulled out my phone.

"Reed Richards Science Center, huh…"

The little indicator on the map placed it in Manhattan, not that far from Oscorp. I loaded the data into SP//dr's system and the map appeared in front of me. Then I texted Anna.

'heading to you now'

Leaning back in the chair, I cupped the neural amplifiers to my ears. Nothing happened.

_Duh, what the heck am I even doing?_

I took them off and placed my hands on the controls. No sync engine meant no amplifiers, and without the amplifiers I couldn't become one with SP//dr's metallic body. That meant no moving on instinct, too. If I wanted something done I'd have to do it consciously, deliberately.

But I wasn't gonna let that stop me.

"All right SP//dr, get ready"

I engaged the jets on the mech's feet and prepared to shoot a web out of its one remaining arm.

"Here we go!"

We leapt into the air, flying clean over my aunt and uncle's house. As our jump hit its peak I shot out a web at an especially large tree in someone's backyard. The web connected. I reeled it in, picking up speed with every inch I traveled. My plan was to swing under the tree and launch myself even higher in the air so that we could glide towards the river. That was the _plan_. When we got close I quickly tapped what I thought were all the right buttons in just the right sequence to swing us under the tree. And sure enough, we _did_ swing under the tree…

"Oh no!"

…but while I _meant_ to send us on a nice arc over the remaining houses, instead I sent us flying up. Directly up. Vertical.

"No no no no no!"

My mind went blank. I moved my arm in an attempt to move the mech's arm and hit my elbow on the side of the chair.

"Ow!"

Now my whole arm was both tingly _and_ numb. I couldn't feel my fingers. We started to drop.

_What do I **do** what do I **do** -_

I saw one of the buttons on the control panel light up. I pushed it without thinking. Aerodynamic fins jutted out of the mech's legs. We started spinning. I whacked my face against the glass. I saw a targeting reticule travel across the screen and disappear out of sight. Then it came back, flew across the screen, disappeared again. I thrust myself away from the glass and whacked into the chair. I grabbed onto the arms and held on white-knuckled as the force of the spinning tried to drag me out of my seat again. SP//dr's cutesy face appeared on the glass. He was winking. I saw yet another button was lit up on the controls.

"SP//dr…?"

I hit it and the mech locked on to the object we'd been targeting. As I looked closer I recognized it as a flying billboard truck.

_That's it!_

Warning sirens wailed and red lights flashed on and off as our velocity crept higher and higher. Clinging onto the chair with one arm and reaching for the controls with the other, I pushed the final highlighted button. Immediately a web shot out of SP//dr's arm and hit the billboard dead center. We fell past the big tree I'd swung up from and I braced myself for impact. Then, just before we could crash into the roof of an unsuspecting household, the web went taut and we were catapulted across Ditmars at lightning speed.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

SP//dr gave me a digital thumbs up.

"We did it! We did it!" I cheered as we rushed towards the river. As we reached the peak of our swing yet again, I reeled in the web like I did with the tree.

_This time I'll get it right._

I visualized the buttons I needed to push and started on the sequence. But I needn't have worried, because as I prepared to release the web, SP//dr showed me exactly what I needed to push.

I followed his lead. We swung up into the blue sky and I disconnected the web. For a moment we were weightless, soaring through the air completely untethered. Even without being synced, seeing the city from the sky was absolutely breathtaking.

"Wow…"

SP//dr marked a nearby skyscraper. The message was clear: web this location. I got the mech's arm into position and launched the web. It connected and we swerved off to the side, in line with one of Manhattan's bigger mag-lanes. I realized that I hadn't checked the map since we set off.

_I don't even know if we're going the right way._

As if reading my mind, SP//dr expanded the map onto the screen for me as we swung down the wide, open street. Turns out we were in the right place.

"Just gotta go a bit further along."

A few moments later and I saw it. I expected some huge towering building like Oscorp HQ, but it was just a footnote at the bottom of a department store. I landed in a quiet alley and brought the mech round to the center's main entrance - a beaten up garage door cut out of the side of the department store skyscraper. I only knew it was an entrance at _all_ because a little blue sign said 'Reed Richards Science Cente_' (it was missing the R).

I knocked on the garage door. To my surprise, it immediately opened to reveal a dark, concrete room. It didn't look like the kind of place that did cutting edge science, but Anna said she'd be waiting for me, and I knew I could trust Anna. Still, there didn't seem to be anything inside. I turned on SP//dr's spotlight torches and did a quick search. Sure enough, it was completely empty but for one plastic door.

_You've gotta be kidding me._

I hopped out of the mech and knocked on the door. This one _didn't_ open by itself, so I grabbed the handle and pulled.

It was a push door.

_Imagine having to open a door manually in 3142…_

I pushed it open and was greeted by a girl in a blindingly white dress. She looked like she was in high school, maybe college.

"Aha!" she smirked, "I was wondering who it was banging around out there."

I just stared at her, my mouth agape. She was really pretty. Like, _really_ pretty. Her short, dark hair shone beautifully under the stark fluorescents.

"I'm…" I managed to say, "I'm here to see Anna."

She winked, "You must be Peni. I met Anna when she came for her interview the other day. You know, she couldn't stop talking about you."

I felt my cheeks go hot, "Really?"

"Yep, said you're the best student she's ever had."

"We only had one lesson."

"Clearly you left an impression. My name's Betty by the way. I'm meant to be the receptionist here but, well, as you can see, it's not exactly your standard office job."

I looked at her pillbox of an office. It was barely bigger than my bathroom.

"Yeah… I see what you mean."

"Anyway, better not keep 'em waiting - you'd be surprised how impatient scientists get. Lemme just open the door and you can go right through."

"The door outside? It's already open. The mech's in the garage."

She laughed, "Yeah, that's not the door I was talking about."

A low rumble began to emanate from the room behind me. I turned around. The floor beneath my mech was slowly sinking into the ground.

"What's going on!?"

"I'm sending it down to the lab."

"But my spider's in there!"

"It's okay, you can - Peni!?"

I ran out the door and leapt onto mech's roof. As quick as I could I opened the top hatch and climbed in. As I took my seat I heard Betty's voice over the communicator.

"You coulda waited, you know?"

"We go everywhere together."

"I was about to show you the stairs! It would've only been a few minutes!"

"Oh."

I could practically hear her grin, "Don't worry about it. Everyone around here's kinda quirky. The elevator will take you down to the parking lot. Follow the signs to the robotics center and wait there."

"Anna told me meet her at the main reception."

"Like I said, I was gonna show you the stairs."

"Right…"

"I'll send her your way. Just follow the signs."

Eventually the elevator came to a halt in the middle of a dimly lit concrete box. It was a parking lot inasmuch as it was full of cars, but it was a far cry from the stylish parking available at Oscorp HQ. At the end of the parking lot stretched a long, white hallway lined with potted plants. I walked towards it, being careful not to whack the mech's head against the low ceiling. As I entered the hallway I saw the sign the girl up top had been talking about.

"Robotics Center, Gene Labs, Printing Room."

The arrow painted at the bottom of the sign pointed straight ahead. I kept walking till I saw the next sign, then the next. The place was a maze. I got lost twice and knocked over more than a couple of potted plants along the way, but eventually I reached the entrance to the robotics center. I knew I was in the right place because the large silver doors had ROBOTICS carved into them in capital letters.

"This must be it."

I pushed the doors open and walked in. Anna was there waiting for me, alongside a man in a white labcoat.

"I hear you didn't wanna take the stairs?" she joked as I stomped over to her in the mech.

"You never told me it was a _secret_ lab!"

"It's not secret, it's _understated_."

"Is that what you call that main entrance?"

That made the man in the labcoat chuckle. I noticed that his right arm was fully cybernetic.

"We can't all be like Oscorp," he said with a smile, "but I think you'll find our labs satisfactory. My name's Curt, Curt Connors."

He offered out his normal hand for a handshake. I opened the mech's front panel and climbed out to greet him.

"I'm Peni Parker," I replied, shaking his hand, "I feel like I've heard your name somewhere before…"

"I did the rounds on the news before Stegron attacked. Anna tells me you're the one who took it down."

"It wasn't me. A giant green lizard thing did it."

Connors' smile tightened unnaturally for a split second, then, clearing his throat, he said, "Is that so? This is the first I'm hearing of it."

"It was huge! Just as big as Stegron. It completely ignored me, too. Oh, and Daredevil was there!"

He crouched down so that we were on eye level, "Well whatever happened, I'm very grateful that you helped protect our city. When Anna told me about your request I agreed immediately."

Anna nodded, "See? I wasn't kidding!"

"I can't help you with the design, but when it comes to precision tools, this lab is second to none. We mostly focus on _biological_ engineering, and our equipment reflects that, but you'd be surprised at how versatile it can be if you know what you're doing."

"Do you think you could repair my mech's arm, too? It's kinda hard to use my webs with just one…"

The doctor placed his metallic hand on my shoulder, "We'll certainly give it our best shot."

* * *

The lab at the Reed Richards Science Center wasn't as big or impressive as the one at Oscorp. It didn't have as many employees, or an army of observation drones. It wasn't the size of several buildings and it didn't house high-grade military equipment or space-time camouflage suits either. What it _did_ have were motivational posters on the walls, vending machines that dispensed soda for free (I got two cans of orangeade), and comfy sofas to rest in when your legs got tired.

It also had a HUGE 3D printer-scanner.

"Just park the mech in here and we'll be able to copy that arm of yours in no time," Doctor Connors explained.

The printer-scanner was basically a big white tunnel with a computer controller set up nearby. I rode the mech into position, scooped SP//dr out of his cockpit and hopped out of the mech. Anna stood with me while Doctor Connors went over to the computer.

"You're gonna love this," she said.

I watched as a the tunnel started filling with little sparks of light. Then a bright cyan beam started traveling out from the back of the tunnel. It glided forward, enveloping the mech, then it smoothly rolled back. It did this about three times before it disappeared into nothingness. Shortly after that the little sparks disappeared too. Doctor Connors stepped away from the computer.

I was confused, "Is that it?"

Then I heard a loud CLANG. I turned and saw a robotic arm lying on the floor. SP//dr's arm.

"No way…"

"I copied just the arm, and mirrored it," Doctor Connors explained, "so it should fit on perfectly. It's connected electromagnetically, right?"

I nodded silently, still amazed that he'd been able to so perfectly copy the mech's arm.

"I thought so," he continued, "it's how my elbow works. We utilize the natural electromagnetism of the body and amplify it just enough to power the arm's joints."

I walked over to the arm. Even up close it was flawless. I felt a grin spread across my face.

"Okay, now let's fix the sync engine!" I said, looking back at the two scientists.

Doctor Connors glanced over at Anna, "Well, you see, the printer-"

Anna cut him off, "It doesn't fix stuff. It only copies and prints. Sorry, kid."

My heart sank, "Oh… right…"

"You got the blueprints for the sync engine?"

"No."

"But you know how to make it, right?"

"Not really… see, like, there was this equation, a really complicated one, even Dad couldn't solve it, and, well, one night SP//dr just, he kinda just solved it for us."

"The spider did?"

"Yeah."

"Okay so, do you have the _equation_ then?"

"Mr. Osborn has it."

She sighed, "Right, of course."

"But!" I said, walking over to her, "SP//dr must know how to make it. He bonded with my dad. They built the mech together."

Doctor Connors held his chin in his hand, "In that case I think we can help you. If you can recreate the design, we can print it here."

"Really!? It's that simple?"

"I wouldn't call it simple, but it _is_ powerful. Let me show you."

* * *

We left the mech in the printing area and walked through to a small, grey room. At the end of the room was a black screen built into the wall. Below the screen were two circular holes covered in soft plastic.

"This is our virtual design interface," Connors explained, "You construct what you want here digitally, then the printer in the other room will construct it out of the materials we have in storage."

I thrusted my hands into the holes, "What are these for?"

"Liquid-based motion sensors. The gloves you're now wearing are surrounded by electromagnetically conductive fluid. You move your hands, the fluid reacts and transmits that movement to the computer, which then recreates it instantaneously in the virtual environment. We found it's the most accurate way to record delicate hand movements without full-body virtual immersion. It's also a _lot_ cheaper to run. Anna, if you could activate the interface please. It's the green button over there."

She walked to the other side of the room, "Which one, Doc? This one?"

"That's right. Just flip it down."

She flipped the switch and the screen lit up. I could see my hands now.

"But how do I make stuff in here?" I asked.

Doctor Connors pointed at the screen, "Do you see the pen?"

"No…"

"On the table."

"That's a _table_?"

He ignored my disparaging comment, "The pen on that table can draw up anything you want. You're basically making a 3D blueprint. At the end you specify the materials by shading in each element of the design, and then send it to print."

"What if I forget to shade everything in?"

"Then it won't print, unless you explicitly tell it to. Now, I realize it might take a while, so I'll leave you with Anna while I get back to work."

As he turned to walk away I asked, "What _is_ your work? Is it all robot stuff?"

"No," he replied, "right now I'm trying to decode the kaijuu genome. I managed to get a piece of Stegron's tissue from the harbor before Oscorp cleaned everything up, so that's my priority for the moment."

"Did you get any from the green lizard?"

"No… Like I said I… didn't even know there _was_ a green lizard. Anyway, good luck Peni. If you need anything, I'm sure Anna will know what to do," he paused, "You _do_ know how to work one of these, right, Anna?"

She cracked her knuckles, "Know 'em like the back of my hand!"

"Great. Well then, I'll speak to you later."

As I heard the doors close behind me I got to work. Anna, along with an enormous 500-page _paper_ manual, helped explain what all the different colors meant. There were a LOT to work with. I discovered colors I didn't even know existed! I drew and re-drew designs over and over again as I tried to recreate the sync engine as I remembered it from the blueprints.

The trouble was, I didn't really remember it at all.

"It doesn't look right…" I complained to Anna.

"What's not right about it?"

I sighed, "Everything. Dad dealt with this part of the design, not me. I can't fix it, Anna. I don't know how to fix it, and if I don't fix it then, then…"

I kicked the wall in front of me in frustration, sending a sharp pain through my big toe.

"Owwwww!"

"Whoa, whoa, relax, Peni. It's no big deal if you can't get it right first try."

"But I _need_ to get it right, Anna."

_Dad's relying on me._

\- is what I wanted to say. But she'd call me crazy. I knew she would. She basically said it on the phone before: 'it's not gonna go like you expect it to'.

_I'm not crazy. He could be in there. I need to know. If I can sync myself with the mech I'll know for sure._

She scratched the back of her head, "You said your spider buddy knows how to make it, right?"

"Yeah, it wouldn't have been finished without him."

"Well… maybe… maybe we can let the spider make the part you need."

"But how though? He can't use this liquid interface thingy."

Now it was her turn to sigh, "It's gonna be a real pain in the ass but… if I brought you all the stuff out of storage _manually_ , maybe you could, I dunno, I mean-"

"What? What could I do?"

"Can your mech build stuff? I'm talking technical stuff, not like stacking bricks."

"Well it's got lasers."

"Right."

"And a blowtorch."

"Okay that's good."

"And it can cut through everything except adamantium… and a few other things."

"Then technically we could get your mech to do all the building. If you're happy to try it, that is."

"I'll try anything!"

"Alright… okay, I guess uh, I guess we're doing it then," she rubbed her face, "just be grateful I like you, kid."

"Thank you so much Anna!"

She gave me a wry smile, "You can thank me by helping to carry all the crap we're gonna need."

* * *

It turned out we needed a lot of stuff.

"Why isn't there a transporter?" I asked as I pushed a small cargo glider down the hall.

"There is," she replied, pushing a much larger and heavier-looking glider beside me, "the printer's using it."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

We laid everything out on the floor in front of an extra-tall workbench. SP//dr and I sat in our respective cockpits in the mech. Anna wiped the sweat from her brow and gave me a thumbs up.

"She's all yours, Peni. Knock yourself out."

I took one look at the wide array of materials before me and immediately felt overwhelmed.

"Alright, SP//dr," I said, "everything's there. Show us how it's done."

The mech's arms didn't move so much as an inch.

_Of course… SP//dr can't operate the mech by himself. I really need to fix that at some point._

Then SP//dr's emoji face appeared on the screen, winking at me. Before I could say anything the face disappeared, replaced by a diagram of some component, next to the number '1'. Then I noticed that one of the materials on the floor was highlighted in neon green. I felt a smile creep along the corners of my mouth.

"Of course…"

The material was a shape-memory alloy. Handled carefully you could make it retain different shapes at different temperatures. As I picked it up SP//dr overlaid the diagram on top of the alloy.

"So you want me to cut this shape out?"

The button for the laser knife flashed green on the control panel.

_I'll take that as a 'yes'._

I pushed the button, busted the knife out and got to work.

Slowly but surely, with SP//dr showing me where to cut, what to weld, and what temperatures to heat everything to, I managed to somehow piece together the sync engine. It looked different to the old one, but I _knew_ that SP//dr knew what he was doing.

With a satisfied sigh I leaned back in my pilot's chair.

"We did it, SP//dr."

Then I heard a knock on the window.

 _That must be Anna,_ I thought to myself, but when I sat up the woman glaring at me through the glass panel was Aunt May.

"Peni, we need to talk."

She sounded as angry as she looked. I stayed in the mech, "If you're gonna ground me you can just say it."

"I _told_ you not to come here."

"I had to, Aunt May. I had to fix the sync engine."

"It could've _waited_."

"No it couldn't! It-" I hesitated, afraid to tell her the truth.

_It doesn't matter now. The sync engine's fixed. I might as well tell her._

She gave me a puzzled look. I lifted the sync engine up in SP//dr's metallic hands, "I think Dad's still in here. In the mech, somewhere. The only way to know is to sync with it again."

She still looked confused, "What? Peni, that's not how the sync engine works."

"How would you know!? The only one who understood it was Dad, and he's-"

_Gone._

"-he's not here right now, so I have to try!"

She rested her hands on her hips, "We can talk about this at home. Uncle Ben has already called Oscorp. They'll take the mech, and I'll drive you home."

"What!? No way! This is _my_ mech."

"They need to check that it hasn't been altered."

"I fixed the arm! Doctor Connors helped me."

"I'm sure he did, but this is a _rival_ company, Peni. You technically shared corporate secrets."

"So?"

She sighed in exasperation, "Peni, I promise not to ground you, so just come home. If you apologize to Mr. Osborn we can hopefully clear all this up before things get out of hand."

"I need to test this sync engine, Aunt May."

Suddenly SP//dr's threat detection system activated. A group of men in fancy suits appeared on-screen.

"They're here now," my aunt said, "so just get out of the mech and come with me."

"No!"

With the sync engine still in my hands I dashed through the lab.

_If I let Oscorp get the mech now, I'll never see Dad again._

I fought back tears as I leapt over scientists and security guards to get to the exit. The elevator that brought me in was still resting in the parking lot.

_I just need to ride it up._

I activated SP//dr's ball form and rolled down the corridor. The elevator started to ascend back up to the garage.

"Oh no you don't!"

I sprung out of the ball form and with my free hand shot a web at the far wall. I reeled myself in as quick as I could and made it on to the elevator just in time. The receptionist from before was standing in the doorway to her little office, looking shocked to see me, but I didn't have time to talk to her. I ran out of the run-down garage and webbed up the side of the surrounding department store skyscraper.

My heart was beating so hard it made my chest ache.

_Stupid Aunt May! Stupid Oscorp! None of them even care about Dad!_

I barely took notice of where I was going. If SP//dr hadn't kept on indicating where to shoot my webs I probably would've wandered aimlessly around New York. I didn't even notice that we'd left Manhattan till suddenly we were sitting on top of Brooklyn Point. Brooklyn wasn't somewhere I went often, but I recognized the old bridge. I could just about see it, weather-worn but still standing, through all the high-rises. From a distance the cars floating across the bridge almost looked like a river, just streaming along. It was strangely relaxing.

I still had the sync engine.

_I don't care what they think. I know Dad's in this mech somewhere._

With trembling hands, I opened the front of the mech. A bitter gust slapped me across the face, reminding me that we were sitting right on the edge of the building. I maneuvered SP//dr's robotic arms so that they brought the sync engine deep into the cockpit, where I carefully plucked it from the mech's metallic fingers. I couldn't risk potentially dropping it, not when Aunt May would definitely block me from making another.

_This is it._

Carrying my prize, I leaned over the back of the pilot's chair and opened SP//dr's cockpit. The mech de-powered, and SP//dr climbed up my arm and onto my cheek. Now all I had to do was unscrew all the back panels and fit the sync engine.

_Except I have no tools._

Aunt May and Uncle Ben took theirs back after I was done using them. Without the right equipment there was no way of accessing the deeper parts of the mech.

"No, I can't give up. Dad wouldn't give up."

I got out of the chair. As I did I noticed something to the side, lying on the floor tangled in some wires. It looked like a shrunken red pepper. I picked it up. Something was scribbled on it in black ink.

"A. M. M…? Anna?"

_Anna Maria Marconi… it must be hers, but what is it? How did it get in here?_

As I examined it I realized that it was covered in little buttons. I pushed one and a holographic screwdriver materialized out of the top of the object. It was warm to the touch, and completely solid.

"Hard light…?"

I started laughing in relief.

"A hard light screwdriver! What do the other buttons do?"

The other buttons summoned a whole range of other small tools. Wrenches, hammers, needles and even a drill. I punched the air.

"Yes! Yes yes yes! Now we can do it! Thank you Anna! I promise I'll pay you back for this!"

I dashed round the back of the pilot's chair and began frantically unscrewing panel after panel.

"We'll need to do something special for her, SP//dr," I grinned, "even if she left it there by accident. I'll have to thank her!"

I let all the parts pile up around me as I rushed to reach the sync engine's compartment. It didn't take long to find it. The hole from where I sawed it open yesterday was still there.

"Here we go!"

I placed it in and connected all the loose wires. All the connectors lined up and it fit perfectly. My hands were shaking.

_If this really works… if it really works everything will be okay._

Putting everything back was a lot harder than getting it out. My hands were so sweaty I had to keep wiping them on my the bottom of my polka dot dress. More than once my hands accidentally shook a small component out of place while I tried to realign a bigger component.

_Why am I so nervous?_

SP//dr nibbled at my cheek. I took a deep breath.

"We're almost there now. I just need to focus."

Suddenly my phone started buzzing. The call was from an unknown number.

_Focus._

Slowly, I put the remaining bits and pieces back into place and screwed on the panel. The phone continued to buzz. I ignored it. The only thing left to do was to put SP//dr in his cockpit and activate the mech. My chest felt tight. I could hardly breathe.

I ignored my chest and opened SP//dr's cockpit. He stroked the little hairs on my fingers as he scurried in. I sat in my pilot's chair and looked out at the city before me.

_This is it. If he's in there, I'll know._

"Unless he's not."

I wanted to throw up.

_Let's start the mech._

I nodded to myself and pushed the activation button. The lights sparkled into action and the cockpit filled with a satisfying hum. I felt a tear roll down my cheek.

"Why…?"

I shook my head.

_I should be happy! I've saved Dad. He's in here. I'll put the neural amplifiers on and he'll be there._

I clutched them in my hands, holding them just above my ears. My heart pounded in my chest.

"But what if he isn't there?"

_No!_

I closed my eyes. The phone buzzed and buzzed.

"I have to do this."

I cupped the amplifiers to my ears and immediately I felt my limbs expand. I felt the wind buffet my glass face, felt my claws clinging to the concrete skyscraper.

_Yes!_

I felt SP//dr. I felt myself. I felt _complete._ We were one.

But I couldn't feel Dad anywhere.

"Dad?" I heard my voice call out from inside my head.

"Dad…?"

I felt SP//dr reaching out to me. Though I couldn't see him, I felt him holding me.

"Dad are you there?"

A glimmer of warmth flashed across my mind, a sense of deja vu. I saw my Dad building me, carrying me in a glass box, smiling at me. The memories faded as quickly as they came.

"No! Come back!"

In my panic I ripped the amplifiers from my ears, catapulting me back into the mech's cockpit, "Dad!?"

The cockpit was empty. There was no one standing in front of my chair; just the grey tower blocks of Brooklyn beyond the window.

I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. They fell onto my bare knees as I shriveled up, my hands balled into fists.

"It's not fair… I did everything right…"

_He should be here._

But I knew he wasn't. He never was. He never could be. I held my head in my hands and sobbed. As my hands filled with tears I didn't notice SP//dr open his own cockpit up. The mech stayed operational, all the lights stayed on. Crushed under the weight pressing down on my chest, I didn't feel SP//dr's little feet creep along my arm. I only knew he was there as he reached my hand, and out of nowhere I felt a small _pinch_.

"Ow!"

Heat welled up from my stomach, up through my throat, into my head. I sank into the chair, all the hairs on my body standing on end simultaneously. I felt light. The tips of my fingers became numb, then my hands. Slowly, ice cold liquid drifted through my veins.

"What-!?"

I saw SP//dr. I saw my hand, my hairy hand.

 _My hand_.

Dad's hand. I saw myself. So small.

_So beautiful. My little baby girl._

I saw my Mom. In hospital. Holding me. Now in a casket.

_Oh Mary…_

Every muscle in my body began to tingle. There I was again, Mariokart, Dad giving me my first tablet, my stuffed lion. I saw Dad's arms, I saw him embrace me. I felt myself embrace myself. So warm…

_Sweetheart._

Sweetheart. My sweetheart, Peni. I'm so proud of you. So proud of you.

_I love you Peni._

I'm -Dad's- making the mech. He comes back late and I'm asleep on the couch again.

_I'm sorry sweetheart._

Tucking me in.

_You deserve a better father._

No! Don't say that! Don't you dare say that! Don't- now Dad's in the lab again. Cockroaches, ants, scarab beetles. SP//dr. Such a tiny arachnid.

_I hope you have better luck than the rest, little guy._

Now we're home, together with SP//dr. I'm crying in my room. Dad holds me. Dad takes SP//dr. SP//dr-

_Ouch!_

I'm… I'm…

_I love you so much Peni._

In the mech, I get to my feet. FOREIGN BODY DETECTED. Otto's in the tank.

_In my brain._

No Dad! Don't go!

_I have to protect her._

No don't do it! DON'T DO IT DAD!

I see myself through his eyes, and I feel it wash over me. His love. My love. I know what I have to do.

_I love you, Peni._

I'll protect you.

_I'm here._

I'm-

_I'm with you._

My daughter, Peni Parker.

_I love you._

Protect-

_Peni._

I jolted out of my vision, gasping and covered in sweat. SP//dr was on my hand. I _felt_ him there, in my mind, on my skin. My heartbeat was deafening in my ears.

"SP//dr?"

A thought that wasn't my own entered my mind:

_He's here._

"He's… here…"

_Dad._

That one was mine. I steadied my breathing and clutched my hands to my chest. I felt empty. I felt… peaceful.

"Wow…"

The mech's lights shimmered all around me. SP//dr climbed back onto my cheek. Though he didn't say a word I heard him loud and clear.

_I love you._

I rubbed my tear-soaked eyes, careful to not accidentally bump my eight-legged friend. I heard the phone buzz again. The screen said 'Aunt May'. This time I answered it.

"Hello?"

"Peni, where are you?"

"I had to test something."

"You need to come home."

_Home._

I looked out at Brooklyn again with new eyes. I saw it as SP//dr saw it, as my Dad saw it. Somehow it felt more familiar.

"You're gonna take the mech away if I do that," I said.

"I have no choice. You took it to another lab without permission. We need to check that they haven't altered it."

"Will they give it back to me when they're done?"

"That's what I was told, yes."

SP//dr scuttled down to my hand. He looked up at me and that thought rang through my mind again.

_He's here._

I closed my eyes. The visions from before floated into my consciousness like distant dreams. I saw myself through Dad's eyes, through SP//dr's eyes. Suddenly I understood.

"Okay," I finally replied, "if that's what Mr. Osborn wants."

She paused, "…I… didn't expect you to agree so easily."

"I've done my test, so I can let Oscorp borrow my mech-"

_Our mech_

"-for _now_."

She cleared her throat, "Do you need me to come pick you up?"

"Not yet. I wanna drop the mech off first."

"At Oscorp? The technicians can handle that."

"I wanna talk to Mr. Osborn."

"He's very busy Peni-"

"It's okay, I don't think he'll mind."

"Peni!"

I hung up. I knew she was gonna ground me for it, but it made me feel cool. For a second, anyway.

_I shoulda just let her pick me up._

Then again, I _was_ on top of Brooklyn Point.

"Alright SP//dr, if Mr. Osborn wants to borrow the mech, we can let him have it. He can even have the sync engine. Not that he'll understand it. The only people that understand it are you, and-"

_Dad._

I looked at SP//dr. Tears welled up in my eyes again.

"I love you. You know that?"

He gave one of my knuckles a little spider kiss. It wasn't a real kiss, but it's the thought the counts. With a sigh I stood up and stretched my arms way up in the air. SP//dr crawled down my arm and sat on my shoulder.

"Let's do this."

I put SP//dr back in his cockpit and sat in my chair. The neural amplifiers dangled just above my head. I pulled them down and cupped them to my ears. As my consciousness expanded and my body and the mech's body became one, something felt different.

I felt SP//dr in his cockpit at the back of my head. I felt his heartbeat through my wires. And surrounding me, embracing me, I felt Dad.

_We're bonded now. Forever._

I looked down at the streets far, far below. I felt the breeze across my metallic skin. _Our_ metallic skin.

"Time to go to Oscorp."

I let go of Brooklyn Point. I saw myself reflected in the building's glass windows. It felt right. It felt, _me_.

Without looking I shot a web and soared gracefully through the air. I had no more need for reticules or aim assistance. The webs practically fired themselves. SP//dr's pixel face grinned mischievously as we swooped low, scaring pedestrians.

"Hahahaha!"

SP//dr flashed the map on screen but I didn't need it. I already had it in my mind.

_Is this what psychogenetic bonding is?_

I saw Oscorp on the horizon. I couldn't stop myself grinning.

_Why am I so happy all of a sudden?_

I didn't know, I didn't care. I felt free, freer than I'd ever felt before. I swung my right arm forward and webbed a bridge connecting two office buildings. With a flick of my wrist I was soaring up high into the sky. I activated my jets and rocketed over the river to Manhattan. It didn't take long. As I started to descend I quickly shot a web net to catch myself and nearly tore clean through it as I screamed down to street level. I wobbled back and forth in the sticky net for a while, till finally the mech stabilized. With the help of my handy dandy laser knife I cut myself loose and stomped onto the ground.

"Whew!" I sighed, "That was AMAZING!"

I walked the mech right up to the Oscorp entrance. To my disbelief, Mr. Osborn was right there, talking to some old guy in a lab coat. When he saw me he stopped in his tracks, but he didn't lose his smirk.

"Peni?"

SP//dr released himself from his cockpit and crawled onto my shoulder. I opened the mech's front panel and stepped out.

"Aunt May said you wanted this."

"She's right. I hear you took it to some backwater laboratory for repairs?"

"I needed to test something."

He raised his eyebrows, "Oh really? And did the test go well?"

I looked into his sharp eyes, eyes which had intimidated me before, but this time I felt no fear. For the first time ever I really _saw_ him, saw him as my Dad saw him. I felt disgust well up in my stomach.

"I made some improvements, it'd take too long to explain," I replied.

He stared at me, not smiling any more, "I'm sure the guys at the lab will be able to tell me what I need to know. Speaking of which," he slapped the scientist beside him on the back, "we've got a new man on the team. His name's Adrian Toomes, and you'll be working closely together from now on. He understands cybernetics unlike anyone else I've ever met."

The man, who looked old enough to be a grandpa, shook his head, "You flatter me, sir."

"Not at all, Toomes. You see Peni, his business was also affected by that awful kaijuu attack. So I bought it, and hired him as a lead researcher. Who says Oscorp doesn't give back to the community, hm?"

At that moment I heard a car pull up nearby. Without even looking I knew-

_It's Aunt May._

"Mr. Osborn, sir," she said, "I'm sorry we caused you so much trouble."

"Not at all!" he laughed, "I know what kids are like, I have one of my own."

"Doctor Connors assured me that he's wiped everything about SP//dr from his system's computers."

Mr. Osborn waved a hand dismissively, "Think nothing of it. The mech's here now, isn't it? As far as I'm concerned it's all water under the bridge. Now," he said training his eagle eyes on me once again, "I think it's about time you went home, young lady."

I gritted my teeth.

_You two-faced asshole._

I gasped at my own choice of words. Aunt May looked at me, "Peni?"

I shook my head, "It's nothing, let's go home."

Not entirely convinced by my non-explanation, she took my hand and we walked to the car. I leaned my head against the window as we flew away into the city.

_What_ **was** _that?_

* * *

Uncle Ben and Aunt May's little tree-lined slice of paradise was as sunny as ever. The cars all sparkled. The gardens were all perfectly tended. When we got back it was late afternoon/early evening, and the sky was beginning to burn a deep shade of orange. I'd dozed off on the journey home, but as we approached their driveway I woke back up again.

"Right," she said, "we're here."

Uncle Ben answered the door. He looked flustered.

Aunt May smiled at him, "It's fine."

His whole body sighed in relief. I felt kinda sorry for him.

"You need to stop letting Osborn get in your head," I said with a smirk.

His mouth opened, but no words came out. He raised his hand, looking confused, then he lowered it to his sides without saying anything. I walked past him.

"We _will_ be talking about your little escapade later, young lady!" Aunt May called out as I climbed the stairs.

"I know!"

I closed the door quietly behind me. But she wasn't done yet.

"What do you want for dinner?"

"I'll eat anything vegetarian!" I called back. Then I looked at my room. The sea of boxes greeted me once again.

_Gotta unpack these._

I pulled out my phone. Ten unread messages.

_Gotta message Harry, too…_

As I put the phone back on my bed and sat down, as the enormity of what had happened to me over the past few days started to sink in, to _really_ sink in, I felt SP//dr crawl down my arm.

_I haven't gotta do it alone though._

"That's right. I'll always have you, won't I SP//dr?"

As if in reply he nibbled the top of my hand.

"Hey, that tickles!"


End file.
